Boulevard residents are lining up with a clear message for the developers behind the proposed Starlight Solar project: bring real safety protections and roughly $7 million in local investment, or do not expect an easy permit. Neighbors say the current design puts a large battery storage facility and hundreds of acres of panels uncomfortably close to their small backcountry town of about 400 people. A town hall at the Backcountry Resource Center is set for next Wednesday, and the project could land before the county Planning Commission on May 8. For locals, potential battery fires, water use and limited evacuation routes are all deal breakers unless addressed up front.
Project By The Numbers
The Starlight Solar proposal would cover about 588 acres south of Old Highway 80 along Jewel Valley Road and would pair up to 100 megawatts (MW) of solar with a 217.4 MW battery energy storage system, according to San Diego County Planning & Development Services. The county classifies the project as a Major Use Permit and has released a draft environmental report that identifies wildfire risk, water impacts and cultural resources as key issues under review.
Residents Push For Money And Enforceable Safeguards
Neighborhood groups and the Boulevard Community Planning Group are calling for an enforceable community benefits agreement and about $7 million to refurbish the Backcountry Resource Center, build a playground and fund other local improvements, according to FOX5 San Diego. Residents are pointing to the Jacumba Valley Ranch project, which included a $4 million community fund, as precedent for insisting that any promises to the town be locked into binding agreements, per reporting by KPBS.
Safety Fears With Recent Fires In The Background
Opponents say thermal runaway battery fires and limited escape routes top their list of worries. Some community leaders want the battery component shifted farther back on the site and are pressing for a second evacuation route. Recent battery energy storage system incidents in the region, including the prolonged Gateway Energy Storage fire in Otay Mesa and a multi-container blaze in Escondido, are the examples residents keep citing when they argue for stronger protections, according to FireRescue1. Project consultant Jim Whalen has told community meetings that Starlight’s design exceeds county setback standards, would place most power lines underground and would rely on trucked-in water instead of local groundwater. He has also described the solar panels as nonreflective and mounted about six to nine feet above the ground, according to local reporting.
AES, Desert Jewel And A Growing Patchwork Of Projects
The Starlight fight is unfolding as other large battery projects shuffle around East County. AES has withdrawn its controversial Seguro proposal in Eden Valley and has floated a separate Desert Jewel concept for Boulevard, both of which have appeared on local planning agendas. San Diego County’s Boulevard Planning Group agenda lists “AES Desert Jewel” as an item, according to the Boulevard Planning Group. The developer’s withdrawal of the Seguro project in Eden Valley was confirmed by The Coast News.
What Happens Next
The town hall scheduled for next Wednesday at the Backcountry Resource Center is expected to give Boulevard residents a chance to question both the developers and county staff directly, according to East County Magazine. If county staff move the application forward, the Planning Commission could take up the Major Use Permit on May 8, and the project will be evaluated against its draft environmental report and fire safety analyses, according to county project materials.
Legal Context
In East County, approvals for large renewable energy projects have frequently triggered lawsuits or lengthy appeals. Residents and environmental groups have previously taken both developers and the county to court when they believed environmental review or mitigation fell short. That history, along with the conditions the county has sometimes attached to keep projects moving, is the backdrop residents cite as they push for firm protections on Starlight, according to Courthouse News Service.
Locals say they are not opposed to solar power itself. What they want, they say, are visible and enforceable tradeoffs: detailed fire plans, clear water-use assurances, larger setbacks and a binding community benefits agreement before construction starts. County staff, the project team and the Planning Commission must now decide whether Starlight Solar can help meet regional clean energy goals without turning Boulevard into another hub of industrial-scale energy infrastructure.
