-The photo of the above little owl (a burrowing owl) was taken a few months ago in the neighborhood of Rancho San Marcos; one of the last areas in Santa Fe County where burrowing owls still come for nesting season.  Rancho San Marcos is adjacent to the location site of the Utility Scale Rancho Viejo Solar Facility-   

Why this petition matters: 

South Santa Fe County is home to thousands of people, who were drawn here because of its rural character, peaceful surroundings, breathtaking landscapes, and diverse wildlife.  It is one of the most scenic areas of our state, where millions of visitors come to experience its charm and beauty, along the Turquoise Trail National Scenic Byway.  

Recently however, a Virginia based multi-billion-dollar corporation, AES, applied for a “Conditional Use” permit, in order to build a massive Industrial 96 MW solar facility with a 48 MW Battery Energy Storage System, known as the Rancho Viejo Solar Project.  

This entire project will encompass over 1,000 acres, in a residential and rural fringe zoned area, on land owned by a private individual who has leased to the AES Corporation.  It includes over 239,000 Solar Modules, a Lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage System (69 twenty-foot-long shipping containers filled with over 400,000 lithium-ion battery cells, spanning 4 acres), a 2-acre substation, a 2.3-mile-long transmission line and access roads.  

This facility poses undue risk and/or harm upon the public (safety and wellbeing), wildlife, groundwater, vegetation/soil, air quality, and overall quality of life.  This project does not reflect the vision stated in the Sustainable Land Development Code; “The SLDC is designed to protect and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the present and future residents of the County”.  

The greatest threat this facility carries is fire.  The chosen site is in an open area of dry grasslands, where windy conditions are commonplace.  

• This location does not have any preexisting equipment to justify this specific site location.  It would tie into a 115 kV transmission line (over 2 miles away).
• New Mexico has over 1,500 miles of 115 kV transmission lines. 
• The generated electricity is not designated for the local area (like community solar). 
• AES will sell the electricity to the Electric company gridline, to be used wherever or sold to whomever the Electric company so chooses (in or out of state).  

The 2 major fire risks from this facility include the solar array and lithium-ion battery energy storage system.  

• The term “solar farm” seems harmless; however, this is not a farm, it is a Utility Scale Solar Electric Generating Power Plant.  
• Although a solar panel itself, is not likely to catch fire, the many components that make up the solar array can and do (most commonly from DC isolators, inverters, cables and connectors). 
• Lithium-ion battery energy storage systems are known in the energy industry for their risk of a thermal runaway fires, toxic gas release, and potential explosions.
• It only takes one individual cell to malfunction and lead to a potential catastrophic fire event.  
• AES plans to use (Novec 1230), an “extinguishing agent” that cools overheated cells, in order to decrease the likelihood a thermal runaway developing.
• Novec 1230 is on the “Forever Chemical” and the manufacturer announced earlier this year that it will be discontinued in 2025. 
• There is NO KNOWN AGENT that extinguishes a lithium-ion thermal runaway fire once it starts.
• These types of fires have been known to burn for days or even weeks, and can reignite, even after they appear to have stopped burning. 
• These fires release cyanide and hydrofluoric acids when they burn.  
•  There hasn't been a single industrial battery complex fire where the fire-suppression system successfully stopped the battery fire once started.  Once “thermal runaway” starts, fire departments don't have a way to extinguish burning batteries efficiently.
• AES has been associated with 2 recent lithium-ion BESS fires (2019 and 2022).  

In the event of a fire, it would likely only take a matter of minutes to spread to nearby residents, given its close proximity: Rancho San Marcos (1/4 mile) and Eldorado (1 mile).   Eldorado has only 3 roads leading out of the neighborhood and Rancho San Marcos has only 2.  

Aside from the facility itself catching fire, if a wildfire were to reach and engulf this facility, the outcome would likely be catastrophic.  

Once the facility is completed, there will be no one manning this facility.

Although there is promised revenue for the county, if this facility is built, it will come at the sacrifice of the area wildlife, their habitats and their migratory corridors.  

• Countless animals live and/or migrate through this location.
• This includes 100’s of bird species, falcons, hawks, burrowing owls, barn owls, great horned owls, prairie dogs, cottontail rabbits, jackrabbits, ground squirrels, badgers, fox, coyotes, snakes, lizards, bobcats, occasional black bear and pronghorns, to name a few.

AES states Santa Fe County can anticipate approximately $7 million in tax revenue; however, this is over the LIFE of the project.  This comes down to…. only $547.94/day!....Is this worth putting thousands of people's lives at risk, loss of wildlife and risk of water and air contamination? 

Millions of gallons of water will be required to construct and maintain this facility and it is still to be determined exactly where the water will come from, only stating “permitted wells” “third party vendors” and/or “municipal water”, in the application.  

Last but not least, aside from the many reasons already stated, the Rancho Viejo Solar project should not be approved because Santa Fe County does not have any codes or regulations specific to Utility Scale Renewable Energy projects or battery energy storage.  Despite this, the AES application is currently under county review.  

Without appropriate regulations to guide a development of this magnitude, it may very likely leave the public and environment in a very vulnerable circumstance.

Our elected officials must place a moratorium on this project, halting the application review, and focus on enacting guidelines and regulations for Utility Scale Renewable Energy projects.  Other communities throughout the US have faced similar issues, and enacted moratoriums, in order to adopt appropriate ordinances.  It is in the BEST INTEREST of ALL Santa Fe County residents and the environment, that this be done here, and immediately.  

New Mexico has hundreds of brownfield sites, industrial areas and thousands of acres of unpopulated lands where this sort of facility would make more sense and should be the first options for such a facility.  Undeveloped agriculturally zoned land next to thousands of people should be a "last resort" only.

To be clear, we ARE NOT AGAINST renewable energy, however we ARE AGAINST this project.  There are too many safety and environmental reasons as to why this is a terrible idea.  

Please help us stop the Utility Scale AES Rancho Viejo Solar project from being approved.  Please sign the petition, write letters to county officials, and participate in the public hearings.  

GO TO OUR WEBSITE TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN OUR MAILING LIST www.NMResponsible.com

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Please support our movement to stop this battery facility from being built by sharing this with everyone you know. 

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