BESS is coming to the hill country and its time to unite in the fight against these hazardous and ill-conceived facilities that have been incentivized by so called Green New Deal federal subsidies (our tax dollars working against us). Texas has become over dependent on unreliable renewable wind and solar energy sources, creating a need to stabilize our grid’s power by installing these facilities. Unfortunately, the hazardous lithium BESS only is able to deliver 2-4 hours of power, making them useless in an extended power outage. The letter I sent to Govenor Abbott on August 23rd expresses numerous concerns about these installations (a copy is provided at the end of this post). On August 26th, the Kerr County Commissioners Court signed two resolutions against BESS that will be sent to our State Legislators and to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The scanned copies are provided below.
We are also looking at setting up a 391 Commission. In Texas, 391 Commissions permit local governmental units to join and cooperate to improve the health, safety, and general welfare of their residents; and plan for the future development of communities, areas, and regions. They have also been used to oppose various types of development, which is what we need to do in the case of BESS. In addition, everyone who shares my concern about over dependence on unreliable energy (wind and solar), which has led to the need for hazardous lithium BESS, should also write your Govenor and your State Senator and State Representative. I have attached a copy of the letter I just sent to Govenor Abbott as an example.
Thank you, Rich for your leadership on this and so many other issues impacting our community!
Rich, your research, tenacity, intelligence, and caring for us is immeasurable. We truly thank you and appreciate your guidance in specifically outlining what we can do to help fight this. God bless you!
Pat, I hope that you will be pleased to know that the Kerr County Commissioners Court unanimously agreed to share our proposed interlocal agreement with Kendall County for the creation of a 391 regional planning commission to fight BESS. We also approved sharing our proposed Bylaws for the commission. The ball is now squarely in Kendall County’s court.