A public hearing was initially scheduled for tonight’s Ripon Planning Commission on a request to extend the Conditional Use Permit on the Ripon Reliability Project for one year.

“The applicant has requested this item be moved to the March 18 Planning Commission meeting,” said Planning Director Ken Zuidervaart.

He’s referring to the Noosa Energy Storage facility, which was approved by the Planning Commission at the May 2021 meeting. That initial Conditional Use Permit expired last May, but Noosa received a 12-month extension thanks to the Ripon Municipal Code.

The Ripon Reliability Project is the battery energy storage complex consisting of Tesla mega battery packs planned for a 4.9-acre triangle parcel, bordering on Santos Avenue (north), the Frontage Road (east), and Highway 99 near the Flying J Travel Plaza.

Site preparation in anticipation of construction has already been completed, according to Noosa and its parent company Broad Reach Power.

The site cleanup and remediation were done in early 2022 – this part of the work was based on a limited phase II environmental site assessment that called for soil removal and disposal.

Other work included clearing out an abandon orchard, demolition of a residential structure, and the installation of access roads.

Delays on the Ripon Reliability Project consisted of PG&E’s lack of staffing coupled with supply chain issues, which according to Broad Reach Power’s letter in the staff report, impacted project interconnection throughout its territory.

“The Project has an extension list of network upgrades that are required for it to interconnect to PG&E’s Noosa substation,” the letter said.