Valley cities place moratoriums on battery storage site development
Published 11:40 am Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Snoqualmie City Council unanimously passed a moratorium on battery energy storage system sites at its meeting May 26.
A moratorium is, essentially, a temporary pause. While the moratorium is in effect, no battery energy storage systems (BESS) can be built within city limits. The pause gives the city time to establish rules and regulations for BESS sites before any development proceeds.
A BESS that is proposed for a 45-acre lot behind Fisher Creek Park near Snoqualmie Ridge has been a hot topic in the Valley for almost three months, with residents forming a nonprofit to fight the project. If built, the BESS would connect to the existing nearby Mt. Si substation and have a power capacity of 130 megawatts. The batteries would store renewable and non-renewable energy for later use.
However, because the lot resides in unincorporated King County, Snoqualmie’s moratorium will have no impact on this particular project. Energy company Jupiter Power must go through King County’s permitting office for project approval.
Jupiter filed a clearing and grading permit application last month, and is currently still working through that process with King County, according to a spokesperson. This application, if approved, would allow the company to perform clearing and removal of vegetation, excavation, grading and earthwork on the site. If Jupiter continues to pursue construction, other permit applications will come.
North Bend and Carnation have also passed BESS moratoriums, sharing Snoqualmie’s concern over this newfound issue.
“There is tremendous, Valley-wide concern related to battery energy storage systems,” Snoqualmie Councilmember Dan Murphy said at the May 26 meeting. “The moratorium gives cities the time to better study the issue, press pause and look into all of these matters.”
In addition to the issues introduced by residents, Snoqualmie City Council is concerned about what the development of Cascadia Ridge would mean for the city’s future growth. The lot Jupiter Power wants to build on is part of Snoqualmie’s urban growth area — an area of unincorporated county land that the state has designated for a city’s future growth under the Growth Management Act.
A couple of residents spoke during public comment at the Snoqualmie City Council May 26 meeting. One resident told council that while the moratorium is appreciated, the proposed project is an “immediate, urgent and specific threat” that needs to be addressed.
