35
BESS FIRES REPORTED WORLDWIDE
4
FIRES AT CONVERGENT'S OWN SITES
330ft
EPA DANGER ZONE - FAMILIES LIVE CLOSER
0
WA STATE BESS SAFETY LAWS
An Appeal is being filed now.
See what you can do today →ROCHESTER, WA - THURSTON COUNTY
In March 26’, Thurston County approved a 5.4-megawatt lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage System at 7505 183rd Ave SW - on top of the drinking water aquifer for the entire area. Our fire chief opposed it. Nearly 500 residents (and counting) opposed it. The fight is not over.
35
BESS FIRES REPORTED WORLDWIDE
4
FIRES AT CONVERGENT'S OWN SITES
330ft
EPA DANGER ZONE - FAMILIES LIVE CLOSER
0
WA STATE BESS SAFETY LAWS
Most people in Rochester have never heard the acronym. Here's what it means and why it matters to your property, your water, and your family.
A BESS is a large industrial facility that stores electricity from the power grid and releases it back during periods of high demand. Think of it as a giant rechargeable battery; rows of industrial cabinets on a concrete pad, roughly the size of a parking lot. It runs 24 hours a day with no staff on site, monitored remotely.
5.4 megawatts. 20-year life span. Across from the PSE substation. Next to a school bus depot. On top of a Category I Critical Aquifer Recharge Area; the highest groundwater sensitivity classification the county has. The private company building it is Convergent Energy & Power. Puget Sound Energy would operate it. The risk stays here.
Convergent Energy & Power, a private company headquartered out of state, owns the facility. PSE leases and operates it. The benefit flows to a regional power grid. The risk - fire, contamination, property value loss, emergency response burden - falls entirely on the people who live in Rochester. The county determined this facility does not qualify as an essential public utility.
Washington State has no specific regulations governing where battery storage facilities can be sited, how far they must be from homes and wells, or what safety standards apply in rural areas. Thurston County is drafting new rules, but they won't be finished until December 2026 - well after construction could begin. This facility was approved under a catch-all zoning category not designed for battery storage.
The approval is not a 100% done deal. Here is what’s still happening in the process.
The decision was issued March 9. Our Rochester community members have filed an appeal to Thurston County.
Convergent cannot break ground until they pass a separate fire permitting process. Safety plans, a Hazard Mitigation Analysis, and independent engineering review are all still required.
The approval attached 25 binding conditions to the permit. Convergent has satisfied zero of them. Every single one is a checkpoint we can monitor and enforce.
Washington has no BESS-specific rules. Thurston County is drafting them now, due December 2026. Community pressure on legislators can make those rules much stronger — and could affect this project.