Council members at the City of Katy in Texas have voted to deny a Special Use Permit (SUP) for a 500MW standalone BESS project proposed by independent power producer (IPP) Vesper Energy.
Although the vote at the 14 October 2024 meeting was unanimous, the five City Council members voting at the meeting appeared divided, with some voting against the project in line with their constituents, despite personally supporting the project.
Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis
- Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
- In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
- Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
- Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual
Or continue reading this article for free
750MW BESS connection requests submitted to ERCOT
The proposed 10-acre site for Vesper’s Ochoa Energy Storage project is located at 27051 Highway Boulevard in Katy, Texas.
Even though Vesper has presented its Ochoa project as a 500MW BESS, the company holds two queue positions with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), known as Ochoa Energy Storage I & II, representing a cumulative 750MW battery storage capacity.
Vesper submitted a request for the 250MW Ochoa Energy Storage I portion in April 2023, followed by a submission for the larger 500MW Ochoa Energy Storage II portion during April of this year (queue numbers 26INR0114 and 27INR0235).
‘Overwhelming opposition’ to project
Vesper’s SUP application for its Ochoa project was initially presented to Katy’s City Planning and Zoning (CPZ) Commission at a 10 September 2024 meeting, where the group made a recommendation for the City Council to approve the permit.
The City Council held its first public hearing and discussion on the SUP application during its 23 September 2024 meeting. During the discussion, council member Janet Corte requested to delay a decision on the SUP to the council’s next meeting on 14 October 2024.
At this most recent October meeting, before discussions had even commenced, council member Dan Smith made his position on the project immediately clear, by proposing a motion to deny the SUP, which was immediately seconded by fellow council member Corte.
Following the motion, Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris opened discussions by stating that council members had learnt a lot about BESS facilities over the past couple of months. However, Harris said there was “overwhelming opposition” against the proposal from local residents and business owners.
Harris highlighted the proposed project’s close proximity to Katy High School, an outdoor learning centre and other residential areas. In light of this, Harris stated that City Mayor William Thiele had since committed to re-evaluating the City’s zoning laws – presumably referring to the adoption of BESS planning standards.
The adoption of such standards has been a recent hot topic of discussion at local and county level meetings throughout the US, including San Diego County in California, which recently voted to adopt BESS standards as reported in Energy-Storage.news.
Harris rounded off his statement in support of strengthening of the local power grid, but ultimately voted against the proposal due to its proposed location.
‘Fairly new, unproven, and loosely regulated industry,’ councillor says
The next two council members to speak, Corte and Smith, were much more inflammatory, with Corte going as far to describe Vesper as a “new company”, with “little, to no experience” in the energy storage industry.
Although Vesper Energy hasn’t been around for decades, the company has been active in the energy storage industry since its formation in 2015 as Landlease Energy Development.
The company rebranded to Vesper Energy in 2020, following Magnetar Capital’s acquisition of the Texas-based IPP. In 2023, asset management firm GCM Grosvenor became an equity owner in Vesper, which now claims to have a 16GW+ solar and storage development pipeline.
Council member Smith also expressed his concerns on Vesper’s proposal, before making reference to a fire that occurred at Rev Renewables’ Gateway Energy Storage facility in May this year, as covered in Energy.Storage-news.
Public duty to ‘educate and not advocate’
Penultimate council member Rory Robertson used his time to send a message to Vesper Energy’s Community Affairs Manager Alex Rohr, who held a “lunch and learn” session in September for local residents to provide details on the Ochoa project and wider energy storage industry.
Robertson issued an apology to Rohr on behalf of the city, saying that he was sorry Rohr had seen such a “terrible side” from a handful of Katy residents, including “some well respected representatives of the City”.
The City Council member commended Rohr for always being respectful, even when that wasn’t reciprocated. Robertson went on to say “whether the project was right or wrong for the City, it should have been debated respectfully”.
Robertson finished off his statement by saying he felt as though he had fulfilled his duty to “educate and not advocate” before passing judgement on the project. However, Robertson ultimately voted against the proposal, stating he couldn’t support the project after hearing the local community’s clear position.
Decision based on ‘fear, not data’
Final Council member Gina Hicks started her statement by making reference to her lack of knowledge in the subject area, and that the CPZ commission (who recommended approval of the SUP) were “smarter than all of us” – referring to her fellow City Council members. She went on to mention the opinion of the city’s Fire Chief, with his 25 years of experience and knowledge, who had given Vesper’s plans his seal of approval.
Despite the self-deprecating approach, Hicks spoke of how local energy storage facilities wouldn’t be optional in the future, but required to meet peak electricity demand to prevent black/brownouts, which would become more common.
Hicks, who added that her husband worked for one of the “largest energy storage firms in the US”, said she felt “disheartened” that the local position on the project had been made based on “fear, and not data”.
She continued by saying she was a public servant, not a politician, so would be voting against the project, in accordance with local sentiment, albeit against her better judgement. Hicks finished her statement urging the room to learn more about energy storage, saying this wouldn’t be the last BESS application up for discussion in the area.
Sale of hybrid California solar-plus-storage project
Elsewhere in the US, Vesper announced during the second quarter of this year that it had sold its Deercreek Renewable Energy project, located in Tulare County, California, to an unnamed Fortune 500 company.
Although the acquirer wasn’t named, filings submitted with the California Secretary of State show the principal address for a subsidiary associated with the 50MW solar and storage development – Deer Creek Solar I, LLC – changed from Vesper Energy to Vistra Energy during April this year.
Irving, Texas-based Vistra Energy owns and operates the Moss Landing BESS facility also located in California, touted as one of the largest energy storage facilities in the world.