In 2025, battery energy storage is on track for record growth as operators plan to add 19.6 GW of utility-scale storage to the grid (according to EIA). However, growing opposition is cancelling and delaying projects across the country. Much of that opposition is driven by fear, rather than facts. 

 

Last year, Aileron’s team helped clean energy developers permit more than 1.2 GW of battery energy storage projects around the U.S. Understanding the communities that host these projects, listening to their concerns, working with the right messengers, putting in time and building trust helped make this possible.  

 

Fear about lithium-ion battery technology is driving opposition. Media coverage of battery fires, amplified and distorted by opposition, means that most of the public only hears about energy storage when it fails. The thousands of safe, secure BESS facilities that are keeping the lights on and lowering power prices are not getting much attention. There’s a growing perception in the public that battery energy storage is inherently dangerous, even when the facts say otherwise. 

 

Fear and anxiety are real, even when they’re based on misinformation. When emotions run high, it’s hard to make anyone listen to factual arguments. And an out-of-town developer with a financial stake in the project will need more than just facts and data to overcome opposition. 

 

So, what can we do?

 

Our experience has shown that a different approach is needed, and one of the key elements is understanding that community engagement is not a one-size-fits-all approach. We need to approach our communities, stakeholders and residents with proactive, transparent and human-centric communication to help build advocacy, trust and acceptance. 

 

What is a human-centered approach? 

 

A human-centered approach to community acceptance values emotional responses along with facts and data. It prioritizes the unique needs, perspectives and experiences that make up a community and its views or concerns on energy storage. 

 

Successful deployment of this approach requires a robust community engagement approach that starts well before a permitting meeting. Opposition can spring up quickly, but building trust takes time.

 

A Better Path to Acceptance - Lessons from the Field

 

Our approach takes into account various factors including learning about the community’s history, cultivating trusted supporters, identifying community needs and listening to opposition.   

 

Understand the community. 

Community engagement is not a one-size-fits-all. Understand what makes a community unique, take the time to research the history of the community and its experiences with development overall, know who your supporters and opponents are and research where residents get their information. 

 

All of these play a major role in how the public responds to a project and can help you frame the right message. 

 

Know who they trust.

The messenger matters just as much as the message. According to this study, but some of the most trusted voices in America are those that work and serve the community: 
 

• 80% of Americans trust firefighters

• 67% trust construction unions

• Only 26% trust local government officials

 

Why does this matter? We have found that engaging stakeholders that are trusted experts in a community can build trust and credibility.  We’ve worked to engage the local fire chiefs in our communities with transparency, education and collaboration. This has helped to build trust and has created opportunities for community members to hear directly from their trusted members. 

 

Tune into WIFM (What’s in it for me?)

Focus on tangible benefits that will resonate with the community. While grid reliability and tax revenue may be universal benefits for energy storage projects, understanding what matters to a community on a deeper level will help with your message. 

 

Some examples from our work include: 

 

• A community was concerned about added traffic to an already congested area. When they understood that the traffic would be only be during construction and would be revenue without the need for city services, we were able to build strong support. 
   

• In communities looking to attract new industry, the prospect of increased capacity on the regional grid and more reliable electric service has been a key selling point.
   

• Schools and first responders in areas where tax revenue is declining understand the impact of new investment and have been influential supporters. 
   

• A state-owned piece of land sat undeveloped for years due to contamination. Our team is working with local officials to site a BESS project there, which local leaders described as “a perfect use.”

 

Seeing is believing.
 

Remember, most members of a community don’t know what battery energy storage is or looks like. 

 

Creating opportunities for key stakeholders to visit operating projects can help overcome misinformation. Video, photos and news coverage of real projects can help as well. 

 

As an example - We worked with skeptical planning and zoning commission to arrange a visit to an operating BESS facility. The visit made an immediate impact on their concerns about sound and visual impact and helped demonstrate that the proposed project was viable. 

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Questions?

 

If you have questions or want to learn more about the Aileron Communications team, please send us a note. 

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