Highlights
- Surprise's Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to reduce a proposed 1,500-foot residential setback for battery storage facilities to 150 feet.
- APS, the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association, and the Arizona Technology Council were among groups that sent letters opposing the original ordinance.
- The amended ordinance now heads to Surprise City Council for a final vote next month.
- The 2019 explosion at APS's McMicken facility in Surprise, which sent four firefighters to the hospital, drove the city's initial push for strict rules.
Surprise's Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously last Thursday to reduce a proposed 1,500-foot residential setback for battery energy storage facilities to 150 feet, advancing an amended ordinance to Surprise City Council for a final vote next month.
The original setback requirement drew opposition from Arizona Public Service, the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association, the Arizona Technology Council, and an engineering firm currently designing a BESS facility in Surprise, all of which submitted letters arguing the restrictions effectively prohibited such projects in most cases. The commission debated reducing the setback to 1,000 feet, 750 feet, 500 feet, and 150 feet at the request of those opposing groups before settling on the lowest figure.
The city's caution traces to April 2019, when APS's McMicken Battery Energy Storage System facility in Surprise experienced what an Occupational Safety and Health Administration report called a "catastrophic failure." An internal cell failure in a lithium-ion battery caused a thermal runaway event, a fire, and an explosion that knocked four firefighters unconscious, sending them to the hospital with concussions, fractures, chemical burns, and contusions.
Why did the commission land on 150 feet?
Commissioners benchmarked against neighboring jurisdictions. Buckeye requires a 150-foot setback from existing or planned residential properties, and Maricopa County requires a 150-foot setback from the lot line. Goodyear's ordinance requires 330-foot setbacks from residential developments but allows reductions through a special use permit tied to a plume study. Mesa sits at the stricter end, requiring 1,000-foot setbacks from residential properties and 150-foot setbacks from commercial properties.
One commissioner acknowledged the tension between safety history and economic viability, saying the city may have been "a bit overcautious" in its initial approach, according to remarks at the Thursday meeting.
Demand for BESS facilities has grown sharply as data centers expand across the West Valley and utilities seek grid reliability tools. The Surprise City Council is scheduled to take a final vote on the amended ordinance next month.
Sources
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- aztechcouncil.org retrieved 02/09/2026 20:30
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 02/09/2026 20:30. Every claim traces to a source.
