Douglas County staff members will host a drop-in session for the community to come share input on battery energy storage systems and regulations that are in development.
A BESS “stores electrical energy in rechargeable batteries and releases it when needed,” according to a county news release. “Systems range in size from small units commonly found in garages and basements to large installations resembling rows of shipping containers that can cover several acres.” They are not data centers.
The drop-in event is set for 2 to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6 at the Public Works building, 3755 E. 25th St. in Lawrence.
“Planner Karl Bauer will provide 15-minute presentations at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. covering what a BESS entails and the regulations process,” according to the release. “Staff will seek community input on topics such as location, notification areas, setbacks and size limitations.”
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Staff members will gather input on a walk-in basis throughout the event. Folks who can’t make it to the event can provide their input via this form on the county’s website.
During a county commission work session in May, Bauer mentioned BESS fire risks such as thermal runaway — a rapid increase in temperature that can lead to a fire. The county’s regulations would aim to mitigate potential risks. See the video of that meeting at this link.
The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission will consider draft regulations for BESS during a meeting set for Wednesday, Dec. 16. Proposed regulations would then go to the Douglas County Commission for consideration in early 2027.
Planning commissioners heard more about BESS research Bauer has been working on during their midmonth meeting on Sept. 9. That meeting video is available via YouTube at this link, and audio is available via the city’s Soundcloud at this link.
The county has not received any applications seeking to install a BESS.
Note: YouTube was down for part of the day Wednesday. Linked videos may be temporarily unavailable.
If local news matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat — get the latest news from the Times delivered to your inbox:
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Latest Lawrence news:
Jacob Rice / Lawrence Times
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
Cuyler Dunn/Lawrence Times
