Opposition to the development of a battery storage facility in Comfort has spread to the Statehouse.
After his Key Capture Energy employees got an earful in January from Kendall County residents during a public hearing, CEO Brian Hayes is now on the receiving end of letters from a Texas state senator and state representative, both echoing the same sentiment: Comfort is no place for a Key Capture Energy facility.
Key Capture Energy is a company that specializes in building large-scale battery storage systems across the country. They have proposed to build a 100-megawatt battery storage facility in Comfort, which would be connected to the ERCOT power grid.
Battery storage is a technology that can store excess electricity from the grid and release it when needed. Battery storage can help improve the reliability and efficiency of the grid, especially when the demand for electricity fluctuates.
But after the Kendall County Commissioners Court balked on granting Key Capture a tax increment reinvestment zone at a hearing in January, more than 250 Comfort and Kendall County residents packed the Comfort Middle School Jan. 29 and voiced their opposition to Key Capture’s Ringtail Ridge storage facility, planned on 3 acres of an 8-acre plat the company leases along Flat Rock Creek Road off FM 473.
Sen. Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels) told Hayes in her letter dated March 8 that “legitimate safety concerns” raised by residents in the Comfort area “remain unanswered.”
Campbell lists several concerns, including the inadequacy of a small volunteer fire department to handle potential emergencies, limited egress due to the location near a dead-end road and an already constrained water supply which could hamper fire response.
“I request you reconsider your intention to construct a battery storage facility in Comfort, Texas,” she concluded.
Campbell’s letter shipped three weeks after House Dist. 19 Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R-Lakeway) contacted Hayes, raising similar concerns.
“I was present for Key Capture Energy’s recent presentation in Comfort, where it was abundantly clear that the legitimate safety concerns have united local residents and leaders against this project,” Troxclair stated in her Feb. 18 letter.
She cited the same inadequacies as Campbell: a small volunteer fire department, limited water supply and limited roadway access along the Key Capture property.
“This project is simply misaligned for this location,” Troxclair said. “Please know that I will be looking for changes to state law next session to ensure that counties have stronger input into developments that impact the safety of their residents.”
Troxclair acknowledged the firm may move forward with the project in spite of the outcry.
“I understand that all technical requirements have been met, and that the project may move forward despite the concerns of the county commissioners, the local residents, and myself,” she admitted.
“However, I write this personal plea,” she stated, “in hopes that you will recognize the distress that this plan is causing and voluntarily withdraw your plans to build a battery storage facility in Comfort.”
She closed her correspondence by offering her assistance “in finding another location that would be more suitable ... in an area with more robust fire services, water supply, and infrastructure.”
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