OOLOGAH, Okla. — Fort Worth-based Black Mountain Energy is proposing a battery bank on a plot of land near 169 and Fourmile Creek in Oologah. Neighbors are skeptical of the project.
Alain Pepin, a 30-year resident of Oologah said he sees ‘no’ benefit in the proposed project.
The proposed battery bank site would look almost like a storage facility. With several cells resembling train cars. Each of those cells are designed to store energy during times of low demand and export energy during blackouts or times of high-demand.
“Keeping the grid more flexible, and more reliable,” Dan Ditto, the land director for Black Mountain said.
He’s taking the lead on the project, which Pepin, and other Oologah residents, are opposing.
“You know, we’d like to have a hardware store, we’d like to have other stores,” instead of the battery bank, Pepin said.
If the project is completed – and works exactly as advertised – it could benefit Oologah and other parts of the state, during power outages or high-demand events.
“It reacts to the closest place, but it’s also you know, it flows, the grid goes across the state, so it’s gonna be the first place that is in need of power,” Ditto said.
The Battery Bank would not create jobs because it is operated offsite. However, Ditto told 2 News Oklahoma the company would use local contractors in the building stages.
The council took no action on the rezoning request. They are expected to vote during their next meeting.
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