On September 16, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a 588-acre solar and battery storage project in Boulevard, a backcountry community near the Mexican border. Eleven days from now, the county's comment period closes on its first-ever draft zoning ordinance for battery storage facilities. The ordinance applies only to future applications. Starlight Solar is grandfathered out.
So the county's biggest battery project was approved under the fire chief's discretionary guidelines, which require setbacks of 50 or 20 feet from property lines. The draft ordinance requires 100 feet. It would also restrict which land-use zones can host battery facilities. Starlight's conditions were negotiated project by project, with no countywide baseline in place.
Susan Fogle, a Boulevard resident, told the Board: "I am not against renewable energy. I am against the belief that rural communities should continually be asked to carry the burden of industrial development because we have something increasingly rare in California, and that's open land."
2022 — Starlight Solar application filed with San Diego County
July 2024 — Board directs staff to draft the county's first battery-storage zoning rules
Dec 2024 — Board votes to leave fire safety standards to county fire chief's discretion
Aug 13, 2026 — Draft zoning ordinance released for public comment
Sept 16, 2026 — Board approves Starlight Solar: 100 MW solar, 217 MW battery storage, one mile from the US-Mexico border
Sept 27, 2026 — Comment period closes on draft ordinance
Spring 2027 (est.) — Ordinance goes to Planning Commission and Board for adoption
Still unresolved: 200 MW of Starlight's approved battery capacity has no power purchase agreement and no grid interconnection in place
Pending lawsuit: The Back Country Community Alliance for Responsible Development has announced plans to file suit