Energy reliability comes with a new battery storage facility in Goleta

GOLETA, Calif. - The Goleta Valley and even a wide region now has a battery backup system unlike anything it has ever seen before.

The Gridstor system is now set to go as a clean energy backup to the grid of energy we are most used. The current system is vulnerable to natural and other impacts, and when it's down it's out. This system keeps homes and businesses lit up.

Gridstor CEO Chris Taylor says, "we need reliable power exactly where and when it's needed and this project is a perfect example of this." He says this is one of many similar projects coming on line.
"California is leading the nation and the world in this transition to a clean energy economy and  battery storage is the back bone on how we can do that."

Gridstor says this system off Storke Road has enough power for a half a million households.

This is part of a master plan not just for this city but for the region.
Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joan Hartmann says, "having the ability to generate and store power locally means reliability and it means lower costs over the long run ."

The area has impacts to power lines and the overall South Coast power grid during the massive 2017 Thomas fire.   The new Gridstor system will keep the lights on and businesses open if that or something worse should happened again

Goleta City Councilman Kyle Richards said, "we're vulnerable to earthquakes, wildfires, mudslides, we've seen it all so this is a way to keep energy stored in our community locally so that if we are cut off in those events we have the energy to back us up."

What was once a costly out of reach concept is now affordable and happening in real time with more to come. Hartmann said, "the prices of batteries have gone down by 70 percent and solar generation down by 90 percent."
This system will help the city go forward with shutting down a fossil fuel energy backup system. "More things like this will help us get rid of things that are outdated and dirty and don't belong in  our future," said Richards.