Support Local Solar in La Plata County!

Encourage our Board of County Commissioners to end the Solar Battery Moratorium

Currently, there is a petition going around to ask our County Commissioners to NOT approve ending the Moratorium on BESS.  The petition is misinformed about the goal of the BESS-- it's not a specific project but rather a land use code that ends the solar battery moratorium and allows battery projects to apply with the county. It doesn't approve anything and every battery proposal will be site specific and individually approved by the Planning Commission (similar to how we approve oil wells and other energy projects). The battery moratorium is preventing LPEA from fixing its rooftop solar red zones and batteries are an essential part to renewable energy resilience. Obviously batteries are not a good fit for every location but San Juan Citizens Alliance's point of view is that we should not have a blanket anti-solar battery moratorium and approach the issue of batteries in La Plata in a site specific project-by-project way-- which is exactly what the BESS code is and what the county commissioners will be voting on on the 16th! 

Issue Background:

We need safe Battery Energy Storage Systems (“BESS”) to make the transition to clean energy. Batteries are key to unlocking the full value of local rooftop solar. Right now, La Plata County has a moratorium on any batteries larger than individual home-scale batteries.  La Plata County Commissioners will be voting on ending that moratorium on December 16^th.

What you can do: Encourage La Plata Board of County Commissioners to end the moratorium!

Step 1: Submit a public comment https://forms.lpcgov.org/Forms/Planning_Projects_Public_Comments  using the talking points below BEFORE 12/16; the sooner the better. Project number is: PL20250124.

 Step 2: Show up and provide a comment in person at the board of county commissioners planning meeting on December 16 at 10am at 1101 East 2nd Ave, Durango, CO 81301

 The top-line ask: La Plata Board of County Commissioners should end the solar battery moratorium by adopting the planning commission’s recommendation. The County Commissioners should modify the planning commission’s recommendation by enacting site-specific setbacks, not blanket setbacks.

Additional Information and Talking points:  HERE