Engie North America asked the California Energy Commission to suspend processing its request to build a lithium battery storage facility in San Juan Capistrano after nearly two years of review, saying it would analyze alternative locations and market changes “to improve the economic viability of the project.”
Engie sent its letter regarding the Compass Energy Storage project to the commission on Monday, Dec. 22.
Engie’s proposed 250-megawatt battery energy storage system, or BESS, would have collected excess energy from the power grid, stored it and then discharged it back to the grid during periods of peak demand. Engie was planning to purchase 41 acres of a former ranch that fronts Camino Capistrano, the railroad tracks and the 5 freeway from Saddleback Church, using 13 acres for the storage facility and preserving the remainder as natural open space with trails.
“This decision is being made because certain commercial aspects about the current site, along with resource adequacy and market changes, have influenced the economic viability of the project, requiring us to re-evaluate the location,” Renee Robin, director of permitting and planning for Engie, said in a statement. “We will renew efforts to identify an alternative location to implement our existing transmission position, including by evaluating whether conditions have changed at alternative sites that would render one or more viable for the project.”
Engie officials previously said the site in San Juan Capistrano was the best location for the facility after considering 17 other sites in Orange County.
“It’s a Christmas miracle, it’s David vs. Goliath,” said Cathleen Pryor, a Laguna Niguel realtor and nearby resident who helped form BLESSIN, short for Ban Lithium Energy Storage Systems in Neighborhoods, to challenge the project over concerns of fire risk and environmental impacts. “We had so many Davids. We’re just as grateful as can be. We want to express our gratitude to the city leaders who listened to their citizenry.”
“We want to support green energy, but we have to be so careful for our communities,” she added.
The energy company had submitted its application to the California Energy Commission in April 2024 and the project was being considered under a 2022 law that broadened the energy commission’s authority to facilitate renewable energy projects in support of California’s goal of achieving 100% clean energy by 2045. In May, the commission held its first review of the project.
Engie is asking the state commission for a pause or extension of the 270-day certification process that kicked off earlier this year, but did not ask for a specific timeframe.
With the project on pause, the sale of the land is also voided, said Tim Lineberger, a spokesperson for the energy company said.
In October, South Orange County Community College District trustees voted to reject a $750,000 grant from Engie that they had agreed in April to accept.
The grant would have paid the district $150,000 for five years and supported Saddleback College’s work-based learning programs, which, according to the agreement, would include occupational skills training and career-aligned work experiences designed to help students transfer to four-year universities or enter the workforce.
The money would have only been paid to the district if the California Energy Commission approved the proposed project.