As Texas embraces battery energy storage, Hill Country residents push back — ‘Not in our backyard’
The sites face few regulations and residents are on edge. They’re worried about fire, noise and pollution.
By Sara DiNatale, Ricardo Delgado,Staff writers
Sep 28, 2024
MASON — Christopher Dyer says his noisy neighbor moved in without warning.
No one knocked at the door of his home about 40 miles northwest of Fredericksburg to ask how he’d feel about living next to a battery energy storage site. Instead, he got an earful of construction noise. That was soon replaced by the sound of air conditioners whirring to keep the batteries cool and the hum of electricity at the facility, which is about 60 feet from his property.
He installed waterfall fountains in his backyard to drown out the racket and the city of Mason built a 10-foot fence around the site. It wasn’t enough, Dyer said. He and his wife, Catherine, don’t even try entertaining on their patio anymore.