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By Drew Sitton, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego online news association
Photo: Plans for a proposed battery storage facility at 8135 El Paso St. have been set aside. Photo by Amy Reichert.
August 9, 2025 (La Mesa) - In her meetings with La Mesa’s city manager, Councilmember Laura Lothian asked about the proposed 18-megawatt battery storage facility at 8135 El Paso St.
It was a project opposed by most of the neighborhood that received sustained pushback, thanks in part to Lothian.
Since 2023, site developer EnerSmart Storage had not filed any new paperwork with the city, so the city manager had little to report as the plans trundled towards a city council vote.
On July 30, Lothian finally received an update – and it was the one she and many other La Mesa residents had been hoping for. EnerSmart Storage pulled the proposal.
In all caps and purple letters, she immediately emailed back “YAHOO!”
“I’m happy. The neighborhood’s happy,” Lothian said in a phone call.
Lothian was the only recipient to overtly celebrate, but she imagines her fellow council members are relieved too.
Project controversy
The project pitted climate action plan goals against fears for public safety.
Battery storage facilities can make electric grids more resilient against power outages.
As alternate power sources increase in popularity, storage facilities redistribute solar and wind power collected during the day to be used at peak times in the evening.
However, the developing technology is far from perfect. Fires have broken out in Otay Mesa, Valley Center and Escondido. Chemical fires are difficult to extinguish.
In Otay, fire officials monitored the situation while the fire burned itself out over weeks, all while releasing toxic fumes into the air.
When Lothian visited the ongoing fire, she noted the site was in the middle of nowhere.
The proposed La Mesa facility was backed up against houses and businesses, with Murray Manor Elementary School close enough to need to be evacuated during a fire.
The SDG&E electric sub-station across the street, which is what the facility was aiming to be near in the first place, has 100 feet of defensible space. At just 22,000 square feet, residents feared the vacant lot would not have that insulation for nearby homes and businesses.
“This is a victory for our community and common sense. Firefighters warn battery storage facilities do not belong near homes and schools and now our families and pets are safe,” neighbor Amy Reichert said in a statement.
EnerSmart did not respond to a request for comment from the La Mesa Courier.
The company told CBS 8 the plans were pulled due to “transmission constraints in the area that prevented us from participating in resource adequacy.” That cut into revenues, so the project “simply didn’t pencil.”
Residents made their voices heard
Residents believe the sustained, loud opposition played a factor in the developer backing down.
Lothian hosted a town hall with city and fire officials with a huge turnout at Brew Coffee Spot.
Teri Hoffman started a petition which garnered over 1,000 signatures. Hoffman also created social media pages dedicated to opposing the project.
“When you are up against someone with a lot of money and all that, it just seems like it’s impossible. And so it was great of the developer to just pull out his application,” Hoffman said. “That was the best thing.”
The site is still owned by Zigman Properties L.P.
In private hands, residents hope the long vacant lot can still be developed to add to the neighborhood, such as with a childcare facility.
Sold to the city, it could be converted into a park.
For now, the blighted property is a hotspot for the unhoused to hang out.
“It’s a bit of an eyesore lot,” Lothian admitted.
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