About

HCESRPC’s Purpose

The HCESRPC is committed to:

• Protecting and preserving the health, safety, and welfare of the people of Gillespie, Kendall and Kerr Counties.
• Coordinating and collaborating with local government entities that share similar needs, ensuring effective planning on matters related to public health, safety, and general welfare. This includes addressing issues surrounding Energy Storage Systems (ESS) that impact the jurisdiction and residents of the HCESRPC.
• Working in accordance with Texas Local Government Code 391 to engage with Texas State and federal agencies involved in the planning, regulation, and approval of ESS facilities within the HCESRPC’s jurisdiction.

The HCESRPC’s Position Statement:

WHEREAS, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are being considered to be located in Kendall and Kerr Counties, and

WHEREAS, there is a history of lithium battery instability and overheating that lead to thermal runaway fires and explosions, raising serious concerns regarding their installation in Kendall and Kerr Counties, and

WHEREAS, it is extremely difficult to extinguish a lithium battery fire and our rural volunteer firefighters lack sufficient foam and water to extinguish a lithium battery fire in a BESS facility, and

WHERAS, Kendall and Kerr Counties are located within a Priority Groundwater Management Area and subject to frequent and extended severe droughts, and

WHEREAS, there is a significant negative environmental impact associated with a lithium battery fire in a BESS facility from the toxic gases that are released, and the contaminants could find their way into our creeks and rivers or into our groundwater on which we rely, and

WHEREAS, there are inadequate regulations regarding the eventual disposal of the BESS lithium batteries at the end of their life, ensuring the safe disposal at a suitable approved disposal or recycling site, and

WHEREAS, the installation of a BESS facility will impact and likely lower the value of the adjacent lands, and

WHEREAS, BESS is not a renewable or new source of energy and has a power discharge cycle limited to only a few hours, rendering them useless in any prolonged power outage.

FOR THESE REASONS, BE IT KNOWN THAT, the Commissioners Courts of Gillespie, Kendall and Kerr Counties and the members of the HCESRPC Board are opposed to the installation of BESS facilities within their jurisdictions.