(Pocatello for Accountable Government Entities, August 26, 2026)
BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM (BESS):
According to Harmon Solar Project’s website: “Harmon Solar Project is a 300-megawatt (MW) facility with a 300 MW / 1,200 MWh (megawatt-hour) Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) proposed in southeastern Bannock County, Idaho.”
This Industrial Solar project MUST have a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in place, yet the DRAFT Land Use and Development Ordinance (LUDO) document published on 07/14/26 which represents a draft ordinance in the making for nearly 2 years, currently has Commercial Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) listed as NOT ALLOWED within the Land Use Chart and there is no section within the LUDO addressing the restrictions, requirements, etc.
Why would one of the most important aspects of a large-scale industrial solar project be withheld from an ordinance draft weeks before the item is set to go to a public hearing?
Why has the Planning & Development Council not yet been given an opportunity to contemplate this section of the Ordinance in their work sessions?
It’s not an oversight – that much is a given. The email string (posted yesterday) documents the necessity for a section (or separate ordinance) addressing BESS and an intent (at that time) for Commissioner Hough to request it to be added.
DRAFT (subject-to-change before the public hearing) 07/14/26 LUDO DOCUMENT:
