To the Communities of Eden Valley, Harmony Grove, Elfin Forest, and Nearby Areas of San Diego County Near Escondido and San Marcos:
We hear you.
We’ve followed the public meetings, read the comments, listened to the petitions, and spoken with experts across this debate. Your concerns are not only valid; they are essential to shaping a better path forward for energy storage in California.
What’s happening in Eden Valley is not an isolated event. It reflects a broader issue: the urgent need to rethink how and where battery systems are deployed, especially when they are located near homes, hospitals, and culturally significant land.
Why Your Opposition Matters
When residents say no to a project like Seguro, it can be easy to dismiss it as a classic case of NIMBYism. That’s not what this is.
You’ve raised detailed, thoughtful, evidence-backed concerns:
- That lithium-ion fires are real, and they don’t always stay contained.
- That toxic gases like hydrogen fluoride and VOCs are a health threat, even without flames.
- That evacuation routes are limited, and a fire could trap families.
- That hospital safety, wetland ecology, and rural character deserve protection.
You’ve seen incidents at Moss Landing, Valley Center, and right in your own backyard. You’ve read about lithium battery fires in the news. And you’ve asked a question that any of us would ask:
Can something this large, this volatile, really be safe just 130 feet from someone’s bedroom?
The Root Cause: Technology Built for Utility Yards, Not Communities
Most grid-scale battery systems today use lithium-ion chemistries inside steel containers. These systems rely on layers of fire suppression equipment, gas venting, emergency detection, and cooling infrastructure to manage the risks.
The problem? Those systems are designed to respond after something goes wrong.
They do not prevent thermal runaway. They try to manage it. Which means:
- The battery can still catch fire.
- Toxic gases can still be released.
- Emergency response is still needed.
And when you combine that with siting a project next to schools, homes, and hospitals, it’s no wonder communities are pushing back.
How to Eliminate These Risks
At EticaAG, we believe clean energy and public safety should not be in conflict. That’s why we didn’t start with lithium-ion containers and then try to make them safer. We started by asking a different question:
What would a battery system look like if it were designed to be safe from the start?
The answer became LiquidShield and HazGuard: Two integrated systems that solve the very problems you’ve raised.
LiquidShield: Immersion Cooling That Prevents Fire
Rather than placing batteries in air-cooled metal boxes, we submerge them in a non-flammable and non-toxic liquid.
This immersion liquid does two things:
- It absorbs heat before it builds up
- It isolates each cell to prevent flame propagation
The result? Even if a battery cell fails, there’s no flame, no fire spreads, and no explosion.
We’ve put this through third-party testing. Even under extreme thermal runaway, the liquid prevents fires from starting and spreading.
HazGuard: Gas Neutralization at the Source
Even when there’s no fire, a failed battery can vent gases. That’s where HazGuard comes in.
It captures any gas released during venting. Inside a sealed system, those gases are chemically neutralized. Hydrogen fluoride becomes inert. VOCs are absorbed. Hydrogen is safely vented.
There’s no need for plume modeling, stack emissions, or shelter-in-place orders. The system handles it in real time.
What This Means for Communities Like Yours
If a system can’t catch fire, and it can’t release toxic gas, a lot of things change:
- There’s no need for wide buffer zones
- There’s no need for explosive gas vent stacks
- There’s no 24/7 risk to hospitals, daycares, or fire crews
You can site the system closer to load centers. Integrate it into existing infrastructure. Protect grid reliability without compromising residential safety.
In other words, battery storage no longer has to be a threat to your neighborhood. It can coexist—with confidence.
Energy Storage Still Matters but It Must Be Done Right
Battery storage plays a crucial role in keeping California’s energy grid reliable and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. It helps prevent blackouts during peak demand, supports solar and wind integration, and can reduce the need for gas-fired peaker plants near residential areas.
We support these goals. But the way storage is implemented today, especially near communities, needs to change.
No one should have to choose between clean energy and neighborhood safety. That’s why our technology exists: to make energy storage a true public benefit, not a public burden.
We’re Not Selling. We’re Advocating for a Safer Standard
We’re not bidding on the Seguro site. We don’t have a stake in that project. What we do have is a strong belief that battery storage can and must be safer.
The current proposal calls for more than 200 lithium-ion containers that rely on reactive fire suppression and gas venting systems. That may meet today’s industry norms, but those norms are exactly what communities like Eden Valley are right to question.
You shouldn’t have to fight for basic protections. Fire prevention and toxic gas control should be designed into the system from the start.
A Better Way Forward
We know that California needs more grid storage. We support that mission. But how we build that storage, and where, matters.
It’s time to stop treating safety as a layer we add on later. It has to be the foundation.
That’s why we’re calling on developers, regulators, and local officials to do three things:
- Adopt technology that eliminates fire and gas risk, not just mitigates it
- Site projects where the community impact is minimal, and transparency is high
- Respect the right of residents to say no when safety isn’t guaranteed
Because no family should have to live with fear just 130 feet from their front door.
We’re ready to share technical documentation, safety data, and arrange briefings with agencies or councils interested in safer storage options.
Final Thoughts
To the people of Eden Valley: Your voices matter. Your safety matters. And the future of energy storage will be stronger because you stood up and said, “Not like this.”
To the local officials and AHJs: You are right to demand more. Better systems exist. You do not have to settle for risk when better options are available.
And to the broader energy community: The Seguro project is not just a siting issue. It’s a design issue. Let’s fix the technology so the siting becomes less contentious.
