Communities Accessing Resilient Energy Storage (CARES)
Summary
SCH Number
2025050124
Public Agency
California Energy Commission
Document Title
Communities Accessing Resilient Energy Storage (CARES)
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
5/2/2025
Document Description
This project will demonstrate second-life electric vehicle (EV) battery energy storage systems (BESS) with capacities to discharge at least 100 kW of continuous output for 10 to 24 hours at four sites, including two in California: (1) an estimated 2 Megawatt-hour (MWh) BESS at the Meridian at Corona Station affordable housing complex in Petaluma and (2) an estimated 1.66 MWh BESS at the Tribal Administration Building and Medical Center at Middletown Rancheria supporting tribal energy resilience. Part of this effort is to grade the used electric vehicle batteries following the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Standard for Evaluation for Repurposing Batteries (UL 1974) and optimize this standard to make it cost efficient and accessible. The project will demonstrate the BESS’ ability to power critical operations during outage events, such as Public Safety Power Shut Off events, mitigate peak grid demand, and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the use of second-life electric vehicle batteries.
Contact Information
Name
Ran Laviv
Agency Name
California Energy Commission
Job Title
AES
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Address
Phone
Email
Name
Steven Chung
Agency Name
ReJoule Inc.
Job Title
Agreement Manager
Contact Types
Project Applicant
Phone
Email
Location
Cities
Middletown, Petaluma
Counties
Lake, Sonoma
Regions
Northern California
Zip
94954
Other Location Info
890 N Mcdowell Blvd. Petaluma, CA 94954, 22223 Hwy 29, Middletown, CA 95461, 15525 Mendota Ave. Redby, MN 56670, 1218 Siler Rd., Santa Fe, NM 87507
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, § 15306
Reasons for Exemption
Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, sect. 15306 provides that basic data collection, research, experimental management, and resource evaluation activities which do not result in a serious or major disturbance to an environmental resource are categorically exempt from the provisions of CEQA. For Phase 1 of this project, the only approved activities are strictly for information gathering purposes, which may lead to an action the CEC might approve in the future.
The purpose of Phase 1 of this project is to complete the engineering and commercial-scale designs of the battery energy storage systems. Phase 1 will include tasks on Detailed Design and Planning, Second Life Battery Energy Storage System Design, Repurposed Battery Certification, and Develop Materials for Environmental Compliance. The approved activities only consist of preparing all these design and planning documents strictly for informational purposes and will not cause a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. For these reasons, Phase 1 of the proposed project will have no significant effect on the environment and is categorically exempt under section 15306.
Exempt Status
Other
Type, Section or Code
Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, §15061(b)(3)
Reasons for Exemption
This project is also covered by the Common Sense Exemption under 14 CCR 15061 (b) (3) that CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA.
The project does not involve impacts on any particularly sensitive environment; will not impact an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern where designated, precisely mapped, and officially adopted pursuant to law by federal, state, or local agencies; does not involve any cumulative impacts of successive projects of the same type in the same place that might be considered significant; does not involve unusual circumstances that might have a significant effect on the environment; will not result in damage to scenic resources within a highway officially designated as a state scenic highway; the project site is not included on any list compiled pursuant to Government Code section 65962.5; and the project will not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. Therefore, none of the exceptions to categorical exemptions listed in CEQA Guidelines section 15300.2 apply to this project, and this project will not have a significant effect on the environment.
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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