Key elements of BESS emergency preparedness include:

• Pre鈥慽ncident planning aligned with NFPA standards, including hazard mitigation analyses, site鈥憇pecific emergency access, and coordination with local fire departments.
• Fire and explosion risk analysis informed by UL 9540A testing to establish minimum approach distances and guide responder tactics under worst鈥慶ase conditions.
• Emergency planning requirements under NFPA 855, including both an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and a comprehensive Emergency Response Plan (ERP) covering preparedness, response, and recovery.
• Ongoing training for facility staff and first responders, with annual refreshers, clear escalation paths, and tabletop exercises to test readiness.
• Post鈥慽ncident recovery procedures that address safe equipment removal, waste handling, inspection of unaffected systems, and steps to return facilities to service in accordance with environmental and safety regulations.

Resource added May 5, 2026

Key elements of hazard mitigation include:

• Identifying risks early during system design so potential issues can be addressed before a facility is built or operated.
• Designing for the specific battery technology, recognizing that different systems have different safety considerations.
• Planning for site鈥憇pecific conditions, such as location, layout, weather risks, and emergency access.
• Protecting people on site, with clear safety procedures, training, and appropriate protective equipment.
• Coordinating with emergency responders, so local fire departments and officials understand the facility and response protocols in advance.

Resource added May 5, 2026

As solar deployment scales, manufacturers are investing in facilities that produce everything from solar modules to mounting structures, electrical equipment, and specialty glass鈥攁nchoring a nationwide industrial ecosystem that supports reliable, affordable clean power.

Key highlights:

• 140+ operating solar manufacturing facilities across the U.S., with additional projects under construction and announced.
• 75,000+ American jobs supported, contributing more than $11.5 billion annually to U.S. GDP
• Stronger domestic supply chains for critical components, reducing reliance on imports and improving project delivery.
• Broad economic benefits for U.S. industries, including steel, glass, aluminum, and electrical equipment manufacturing

By producing critical clean energy infrastructure at home, solar manufacturing is reinforcing American industrial leadership while delivering long鈥憈erm economic and energy security for communities nationwide.

Resource added 4/30/26

Key takeaways about large鈥憇cale fire testing include:

• Testing worst鈥慶ase fire scenarios, assuming a full fire in one battery enclosure rather than a small, isolated failure.
• Verifying fire does not spread to nearby battery units when systems are installed according to manufacturer guidance.
• Supporting updated safety standards, including new LSFT requirements in the 2026 edition of NFPA 855 and updates to UL 9540A.
• Providing critical data for emergency planning, such as spacing, temperatures, and responder safety considerations.
• Strengthening confidence in system design, helping regulators and communities understand how modern battery systems are engineered to contain and manage fire risk.

Resource added May 5, 2026

California faces rising electricity prices, surging energy demand and ambitious clean energy goals. To stabilize costs and reliably power its economy, the state needs to be able to bring new clean power online quickly and efficiently.

Right now it鈥檚 difficult, costly and slow to add new power to the grid. Clean energy projects often wait years for investor-owned utilities to make equipment upgrades needed to accommodate the new power. The California Public Utilities Commission these delays affect nearly two-thirds of upgrades in two investor-owned utilities鈥� territories.

AB 2493 would require an independent auditor to assess the utilities鈥� progress in resolving the delays and would employ a mix of carrots and sticks to get utilities to prioritize the upgrades. It would prioritize upgrades where clean energy projects are waiting, speeding new power to the grid, saving money and making it easier for California to stay on top of rising demand.

Key takeaways:

• Hundreds of thousands of people around the world live near and work in proximity to operating wind turbines with no ill health effects. More than 100 peer-reviewed scientific studies soundly discredit the claim that wind farms cause negative health impacts.
• The strongest epidemiological study suggests that there is not an association between noise from wind turbines and measures of psychological distress or mental health, nor is there evidence to link the noise to sleep disturbance or other physical health impacts.
• There is no scientific evidence to suggest that shadow flicker negatively affects human health. Several studies also conclude that shadow flicker from wind turbines does not pose a seizure risk.
• EMF levels measured at wind projects were four orders of magnitude lower than the levels known to cause harm to human health.

At the same time, wind energy delivers significant health benefits by reducing air pollution and lowering emissions tied to respiratory disease and premature mortality.

Key Considerations:

Why Farmland Is Sometimes Used for Solar

• Farmers may lease land for solar to create long鈥憈erm, stable supplemental income that strengthens farm financial resilience.
• Farmland鈥檚 flat, cleared terrain reduces grading and site鈥憄rep costs, making it operationally efficient for solar siting.
  Projects sited on or near agricultural land can help minimize conflicts with sensitive resources (e.g., wildlife habitat, cultural sites).
• Brownfields, rooftops, and parking lots are also viable but come with higher costs, size limitations, additional permits, or liability risks, making them insufficient alone to meet national solar demand.

Solar as Part of a Long Tradition of Energy Production on Farms

• U.S. farmers already dedicate 40 million acres to corn for ethanol each year.
• Combined land use of corn鈥慺or鈥慹thanol plus solar still totals under 6% of contiguous U.S. farmland.
• Solar provides 30鈥�100脳 more energy per acre than corn grown for ethanol.

How Much Farmland Solar Actually Uses

• In 36 states, utility鈥憇cale solar occupies less than 0.1% of prime farmland.
• In 12 states, solar occupies less than 0.01% of prime farmland.
• Nationally, the state average is just 0.07% of prime farmland used by solar.
• Only two states exceed 0.25% of prime farmland used for solar: California 鈥� 0.33% and Rhode Island 鈥� 0.31%
• Across 95% of counties with solar, it occupies less than 0.25% of total farmland.

Future Land Needs for Solar

• Even in the most land鈥慽ntensive 2050 scenarios modeled by DOE, about 10.3 million acres would be needed for new solar development.
• If all of this were placed on farmland (a scenario the fact sheet calls 鈥渉ighly unlikely鈥�), it would affect less than 1.2% of existing U.S. farmland.

The primary avenue by which industry works with the Department of Defense (DoD) to address national security concerns about potential wind projects, both on- and offshore, is through the DoD Military Aviation and Installation Assurance Siting Clearinghouse (鈥淐learinghouse鈥�).

This fact sheet provides background on ensuring offshore wind projects are compatible with military readiness.