'It doesn't need to be here': Liberty residents push back against proposed battery facility

LIBERTY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland, including Liberty. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.

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Neighbors in Liberty are pushing back against a proposal to build a large battery storage facility in their residential neighborhood.

The people who live in the neighborhood told KSHB 41 Northland Reporter Fernanda Silva on Friday the project does not belong there.

Liberty South Reliability Project LLC and Gridstor, based in Portland, Oregon, applied for a special use permit to build a 200-megawatt lithium-ion battery energy storage facility on a property now zoned Standard Single-Family Residential.

The facility would be built on the northwest corner of Birmingham Road and Ruth Ewing Road in Liberty.

According to project documents, the facility is designed to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 25 years or more.

"The purpose of the project is to increase the reliability and capacity of the electric system by using batteries to store excess electricity from the grid and supply it back to the grid during periods of high demand," the documents state.

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Tell Pryor has lived in the area for five years and is preparing to move. He said the proposed facility played a role in his decision.

"Things are changing," Pryor said. "I wouldn't say it was the deciding factor, but it was kind of starting the snowball effect, for sure."

Pryor said the location of the facility makes no sense to him.

"I just don't see that, you know, needing to be in this area," he said. It could go literally anywhere in Liberty and they decide to park it where they're building a brand new subdivision It doesn't need to be here. It's not helping the residential area. It's not going to help anyone here."

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In March, two neighbors put up signs in their front yards against the project.

Judy Williams has lived in the area for 10 years. She said the proposal has her thinking about leaving, too.

"I'm ready to pack up and move," Williams said. "Who would want to live here?"

She said the project simply does not fit the character of the area.

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"I just want to say, 'Hey, stop and think about it,'" she said. "This is not an industrial area. This is a home area where residential is. Why pick on a residential area? That's my big question."

Liberty planning staff recommended denial of the application.

In the document, staff wrote that the proposal "introduces a use that is inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan's vision for neighborhood preservation" rather than reinforcing the residential nature of the area.

The staff also found that "the proposed use fails to adequately demonstrate that it will not adversely affect the public health, safety, comfort, or general welfare of the surrounding community."

Gridstor said in a statement that it "looks forward to speaking about the project during upcoming public hearings," but did not answer specific questions about the project.

Application documents state that "operational noise levels will be within acceptable limits consistent with other residential areas in the Kansas City Metro Area," and that "new capacity resources are needed to ensure that electricity remains reliable and affordable for current and future power customers, including Liberty residents and businesses."

Construction, if approved, is expected to take about a year.

Pryor said he hopes city leaders side with residents.

"I hope that the city leaders also realize that this isn't going to do any citizen of the city any benefit," Pryor said. "Just do the right thing. Do what's right by the people and not what's right by billionaires."

Public comment will be taken at the city's Planning & Zoning Commission meeting at 7 p.m. August 11 at Liberty City Hall, 101 E. Kansas St.

The proposal is then expected to go before the City Council on Aug. 24.

That will give residents another opportunity to weigh in.

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