Large energy infrastructure projects generally face multi-agency reviews—and the potential for community-based opposition—leading to increased development timelines, costs, and risks. BESS-specific siting and permitting issues revolve around the novelty of lithium ion battery technology and its environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) attributes. Of particular concern are the lack of information, as well as misinterpretation of news relating to LIB fire safety, and the broad availability of inaccurate and misleading information about observed failure events at utility-scale facilities. I will share and describe community-based siting and permitting considerations for BESS with the objective of helping electricity providers, project developers, government agencies, jurisdictional authorities, the public, and other stakeholders engage, communicate, and collaborate to understand current BESS permitting conditions and overcome deployment barriers. It is based on interviews with project developers and reviews of publicly available information resources, including permitting dockets and submissions reported on in prior work. The talk will cover case studies, developments in local policy that may reduce barriers to permitting, and examples of community benefits included in various BESS project development scenarios
