Tell City Council NO Lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage Facility on Leisure Town Rd.

On January 10th 2023, the City of Vacaville entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with Menard Energy LLC to put a very large lithium-ion battery power plant in North Vacaville, located at 7050 Leisure Town Rd. The plant is huge – 32 acres and nearly one million square feet. Homes that would be affected in a potential evacuation/hazard zone would be located within1-4 miles of the site.

Commercial lithium-ion battery storage comes with risks, including: fires, explosions and toxic smoke that could cause evacuations or shelter in place orders for residents. The developer is promising a community park with eight tennis courts and a pool as an incentive to accept their project. While this park may seem beneficial to the City, this project doesn’t belong near homes.

LITHIUM-ION IS VOLATILE: Since 2018, there have been 50 documented large lithium-ion battery fires including 2 recent lithium-iron battery storage fires in New York. They’re very difficult to put out, require excessive amounts of water and sometimes burn for weeks. In September 2022, a battery storage fire in Moss Landing, CA shut down an eight mile stretch on Hwy 101. Businesses and residents in a four mile area were told to “shelter in place” and turn off their HVAC to outside air due to deadly toxins from the smoke.

PROPERTY VALUE DECREASE: Nearby residents would most likely have to disclose it as potential hazard when selling their properties.

NON-STOP NOISE: Battery storage systems require their own inverter, substation and HVAC systems to cool the batteries. They emit a 24/7 buzzing or humming noise that is extremely loud and heard in neighboring areas.

OTHER EXISTING BATTERY STORAGE SITES ARE IN INDUSTRIAL ZONES OR ISOLATED AREAS: This project is located 1050 ft from homes in North Village subdivision and the closest home on Mills Lane is 480 ft. It is also within a mile of a Kaiser Permanente Hospital and Solano College.

CONTAMINATES WATER: Runoff from water used to cool exploded/burning battery units could contaminate the nearby creek as well as pollute the groundwater, which may affect nearby residential and city wells.

DOESN’T PROVIDE LONG TERM JOBS FOR VACAVILLE: Once built, these systems are usually remotely monitored.

NO ENERGY BENEFIT: None of the energy saved goes directly to Vacaville.residents. It doesn’t guarantee our city power during blackouts, just millions of dollars for the developer.

City Council will be voting on this sometime before the end of the year.



​HOW YOU CAN HELP:
1) Share this information with your Vacaville friends and neighbors.

2) Sign and share the online petition. Click here : Sign the Petition

3) Send a message to Vacaville City Council and the planning manager. ( If you want a response, write each one individually)
email addresses:

[email protected]
[email protected]
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4) Attend one of the City Council meetings and state your opinion of this project during the public comment part of the meeting. (In person is the most powerful) meetings are biweekly on Tuesday evenings.

5)Be prepared to attend the City Council Meeting when this project is up for a vote. We will need the MOST people in attendance that day and as many speakers as possible. (This is the most important thing you can do)

6) Subscribe to this page for updates. We will post about City Council meetings and any relevant info.

Let's keep Vacaville safe!

Please join our Facebook group for more information “www.facebook.com/groups/nobatterystorage”. ​

Click here to read about Battery Storage Fires