A quiet week for hard regulation and recalls: the main verified items were a court-ordered pause on a proposed Hill Country battery site and a pending ERCOT reserve rule. I read the topic as large (utility-scale) batteries on the Texas grid; items from before Sep 29 are dated in their kickers.
01Gillespie County court · Sep 24Gillespie County and AMPYR agree to pause Marshall Springs battery site work
The companies behind the proposed Marshall Springs battery project (a battery plus solar site on more than 1,100 acres north of Fredericksburg) agreed on Sept. 24 to a temporary injunction (a court order that holds the status quo) filed by Gillespie County, per the Fredericksburg Standard (published Sep 30). The agreement is not an admission and waives no claims. It pauses clearing, grading, stockpiling batteries or containers, and building roads or utility lines until trial.
Parties must pick a mediator by Oct. 9 and mediate by Oct. 31; trial is set for June 7, 2027 in the 216th District Court. The county argues a large lithium-ion site is a fire and watershed risk. The order also says no flood-area development permit has been issued.
Why it matters: it shows local governments in Texas can slow battery sites through lawsuits, so some planned projects may not move ahead on schedule.
02ERCOT Board · Sep 15ERCOT sends 2027 reserve rules to PUCT, crediting batteries more
On Sept. 15 the ERCOT board recommended its 2027 method for deciding how much backup power ('ancillary services' such as reserves) to buy each hour, per Texas Commercial Plans (a secondary source, published Sep 30; I could not open ERCOT's own document). The daytime 'headroom credit', the share of spare capacity ERCOT counts toward reserves, would rise from 25% to 50% for generators and to 60% for storage able to run four hours.
ERCOT modeled the proposal at $208.18 million at 2025 prices, versus $244.03 million with no credit. The PUCT must approve it; a vote is expected in November or December with a Jan. 1, 2027 start.
Why it matters: if approved, ERCOT would buy fewer reserves and count long-duration batteries for more, which affects battery revenue and reserve costs.
03B2U Storage Solutions · Sep 9B2U's second Texas second-life battery project reaches commercial operation
B2U said its 28-MWh Bexar Martinez installation near San Antonio, in CPS Energy territory, reached commercial operations, per Utility Dive (Sep 15). Built from repurposed electric-vehicle batteries (more than 700 of them), it has power capacity around 10 MW, small enough for ERCOT's faster interconnection route for small generators.
B2U says it runs both Texas projects on a merchant basis, meaning it sells into the market without a fixed contract, and expects to deploy more than 50 MWh in ERCOT over six months. Cost and pipeline claims are the company's own.
Why it matters: it is a working, grid-connected example of reusing old EV batteries, a source of storage that could ease supply limits.
04Local report via Energy Incident Register · Sep 23Mission, Texas battery storage fire reported; cause and site unconfirmed
A short local report, summarized by the independent Energy Incident Register (published Sep 24, marked provisional), says firefighters in Mission, Texas, responded to a fire at a battery storage facility on a Wednesday night. The report did not name the site or operator, and gave no details on injuries, cause or damage.
I could not open the original local report, so treat this as unconfirmed. No official statement or utility-scale recall was found for Texas this week.
Why it matters: it is a reminder that fire response and cause findings, not announcements, drive the local pushback behind items like the Gillespie case.
05Linea Energy · Oct 1Linea Energy closes financing for 250 MW Mesa View battery in Upton County
Linea Energy closed project debt and a preferred equity commitment for Mesa View, a 250 MW / 500 MWh standalone battery in Upton County, per pv magazine USA (Oct 5; the company release is dated Oct 1). NORD/LB was lead arranger, Texas Capital a lender, and D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments provided the equity.
Commercial operation is scheduled for 2027, so the project is financed but not yet built or running.
Why it matters: lenders are still funding new Texas batteries, but this one will not deliver power until 2027.
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