County ignores plea, plans battery moratorium
Staff writer
Despite a presentation Monday from Flint Hills Rural Electric Cooperative about the importance of battery storage and data centers, county commissioners left their meeting with a consensus that the county should impose a yearlong moratorium on them, starting later this month.
General manager Chuck Goeckle and member service manager Travis Griffin from Flint Hills were joined by Kevin Noblet, chief executive of Kansas Electric Power Cooperative, in imploring commissioners not to adopt a long moratorium on batteries and data centers.
Calling battery and data centers safe and reliable, Goeckle said they would create substantial savings that could be passed on to electric customers.
He said plans would be to use a battery on wheels, about the size of a Frito-Lay truck.
“Our ask is to consider the (value) and safety,” he said. “We feel the moratorium length is too long and broad.”
Goeckle would like for the county to have no moratorium, but said if one was needed to allow for further investigation, it should be short.
He said adding battery and date centers would be important for the county’s growth.
Commissioner Kent Becker said he was happy to learn that batteries could be much smaller than originally envisioned.
“We need to be brought up to speed,” he said.
Commissioner Clarke Dirks voiced concerns about safety since batteries are considered hazardous.
“What happens if it rolls over when coming to Marion County?” he asked.
Goeckle said a one megawatt storage and two megawatt discharge center would be located outside city limits.
Commissioners needed more time to look into this, Dirks said.
“People in Marion County need to be protected, even if that means we lose a data center,” he said.
Chairman Dave Crofoot proposed a six-month moratorium, but other commissioners thought it would be too short. Commissioner Mike Beneke brought up 18 months before commissioners split the difference and settled on one year.
The moratorium will be voted on next week.