Boulevard, California — San Diego County

Boulevard, CA. Not a sacrifice zone.

Boulevard's dark skies, safety, and desert quiet are under threat from a 588-acre industrial solar project that would place a massive battery storage facility in a very high fire hazard zone less than a mile from a local elementary school.

We support clean energy — but not projects that put rural communities at risk or concentrate industrial energy infrastructure in one small town.

KPBS Public Media · Elaine Alfaro · March 24, 2026

East County's green energy boom — and the rural communities paying the price. Boulevard is at the center of this story.

⚡ SD Planning Commission Hearing: Tentative date May 9, 2026 — Contact your supervisor today

The Starlight Solar Project

Starlight Solar is a proposed 588-acre utility-scale solar and battery storage facility planned for Boulevard — a small rural community in East San Diego County with fewer than 500 households. The project includes a 217-megawatt battery energy storage system, one of the largest proposed in California, located in a very high fire hazard severity zone less than a mile from Clover Flat Elementary School.

We are not anti-solar. Renewable energy is essential. What residents are questioning is the pattern: Boulevard, Jacumba, and Campo have increasingly become the de facto dumping grounds for regional energy infrastructure. Projects like the nearby JVR Energy Park in Jacumba show how rural East County is being rapidly industrialized while most of the region's energy demand lies elsewhere.

The Environmental Impact Report raises serious unanswered questions about the project — including wildfire risk, evacuation routes, toxic battery fire hazards, water supply impacts, construction traffic, wildlife corridors, and the long-term character of our community. Even the project's own safety documents acknowledge major uncertainties around lithium battery fire response.

Residents deserve the same level of safety, transparency, and environmental protection that would be expected anywhere else in San Diego County.

San Diego County is reviewing the project now. There is still time to stop it — or require fundamental changes that protect the community.

Boulevard, CA — boulders and desert landscape at sunset

Why one town is
paying the price

"This is the kind of environmental injustice we fear when we look at big-scale energy investments."— Terra Lawson-Remer, SD County Supervisor, on JVR Solar in Jacumba, 8/18/21

From SD County Supervisors Meeting re: JVR Solar in Jacumba, 8/18/21

Academics and community advocates have begun naming this pattern:

"green colonialism" — the imposition of renewable energy projects on disadvantaged and Indigenous communities.

The term, used by San Diego City College assistant professor John Bathke in a March 2026 KPBS investigation, captures exactly what is happening in East County.

Renewable energy is a regional need. But Boulevard and the surrounding East County communities are being asked to carry a disproportionate share of the region's energy infrastructure.

In recent years, multiple large-scale energy projects — including solar generation, battery storage, and transmission infrastructure — have been proposed or approved within the same rural corridor. Yet the electricity they generate primarily serves the broader San Diego region.

The result is a pattern that even county leaders have begun to acknowledge: rural East County is increasingly being treated as a sacrifice zone for urban energy consumption.

This raises a fundamental question of fairness and environmental justice.

If clean energy is a regional priority, its impacts should be shared regionally as well.

San Diego County needs to hear that from you.

What's at stake

Fire Safety

Boulevard sits in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, and the project includes one of the largest battery storage systems proposed in California. Lithium battery fires can release toxic gases and may require firefighters to keep their distance and allow the system to burn out.

Water

Our community relies on local groundwater in an already water-stressed region. Residents are concerned about water use during construction, potential contamination risks, and whether long-term impacts on groundwater availability and quality have been fully evaluated.

Sound & Rural Character

Many residents moved to Boulevard for its quiet, open landscape and rural pace of life. Large industrial facilities can introduce long-term operational noise, visual impacts, and increased activity that fundamentally change the character of the community.

Dark Skies & Light

Boulevard's extraordinary night skies are one of the defining features of the region. Industrial lighting associated with large energy infrastructure could threaten efforts to pursue International Dark Sky Community designation, like nearby Borrego Springs and Julian.

Wildlife & Habitat

The project footprint overlaps with sensitive desert habitat that supports raptors, reptiles, rare plants, and migratory wildlife corridors connecting protected lands across the region. Large-scale fencing, grading, and infrastructure could fragment habitat and disrupt these ecological connections.

Community Safety Planning

Critical safety documents for the battery storage system are still preliminary or incomplete, and some rely on assumptions rather than the final technology proposed for the project. Residents are asking that full safety analyses and emergency plans be completed before any permits are issued.

Make your voice
impossible to ignore

The most powerful thing you can do right now is contact San Diego County Supervisors directly. Every call and email is logged. Every voice matters — whether you live in Boulevard or anywhere in the county.

Step 01 — Call Your Supervisor

Use This Script

Calls are more impactful than emails. Calls only take about 30 seconds, and staff record every call.

Hello, my name is [Your Name] and I'm a [Your City] resident calling about the proposed Starlight Solar Project in Boulevard.

I'm calling to respectfully OPPOSE this project. I'm concerned about the 588-acre industrial solar and battery storage facility in a rural residential area — especially because it would be located in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, the highest fire risk classification in California.

I'm also concerned about cumulative impacts alongside other large projects like JVR in Jacumba, and the long-term effects of industrial-scale development in East County.

Please log my opposition and share my comments with Supervisor [Name] before the upcoming vote.

Thank you. My zip code is [ZIP] and my phone number is [Phone] if needed.

Step 02 — Email Your Supervisor

Sample Email

Customize the text in brackets. A personal touch makes a difference — add one sentence about why Boulevard matters to you.

Who to Contact — SD County Board of Supervisors
Paloma Aguirre
District 1 — South County
(619) 531-5511 paloma.aguirre@sdcounty.ca.gov
Joel Anderson ★
District 2 — East County · Boulevard's Supervisor
(619) 531-5522 joel.anderson@sdcounty.ca.gov
Terra Lawson-Remer
District 3 — Mid-County
(619) 531-5533 Terra.Lawson-Remer@sdcounty.ca.gov
Monica Montgomery Steppe
District 4
(619) 531-5544 Monica.MontgomerySteppe@sdcounty.ca.gov
Jim Desmond
District 5 — North County
(619) 531-5555 jim.desmond@sdcounty.ca.gov

Step 03 — Show Up & Spread the Word

Show Up & Spread the Word

Come to our community meetings, share this site with your neighbors, and post on social media. Tag your posts #NoStarlightSolar and #ProtectBoulevard. Every share reaches a new potential ally.

What we're standing up for

Boulevard isn't just a zip code. It's the place where your nervous system unclenches. Where the night sky is so dark the stars feel close enough to touch. Where the water from our wells is so clean and delicious it tastes like the land itself. Where neighbors show up for each other — and for the land.

We love this place for what it gives us:

  • Untouched land and desert boulders
  • Dark skies full of stars
  • Wildlife that lives nowhere else
  • Solitude and quiet that heals
  • Microclimates and rare plants
  • A community that shows up

Our Story — Community Video

Video coming soon · Share your story: text Thomas at 619-708-6029

These are not abstractions. They are the reasons people chose to live here, raise families here, and stay. Industrial development doesn't just alter a landscape — it erases a way of life.

We are the protectors of this land. It is up to us.

Mark your calendar

Apr 15
2026
Community Meeting

Town Hall Meeting with Rep from Supervisor Joel Anderson's Office

Wednesday, April 15th at 6:00 PM · BackCountry Resource Center

May 9
2026*
Hearing

SD Planning Commission Hearing

Tentative Date: May 9, 2026. Public comment will be critical. This is a key opportunity to speak on the record — plan to attend in person if at all possible.

TBD
Vote

SD County Board of Supervisors Vote

The final vote by the full Board of Supervisors. Date TBD — we'll update this page as soon as it's confirmed. This is the moment that decides everything.

Resources for
residents & press

Press Kit

Media Pitch Emails & Press Release

Coming soon!

Action Tool

Supervisor Call Script & Email Template

Go to Take Action →
Official Document

Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR)

View Draft EIR →

In the news

Our community's concerns are being heard by regional and national media. This coverage validates what residents have been saying for years — and helps build the broader coalition needed to win.

East County Magazine

Boulevard residents battle proposed Starlight Solar battery storage facility; urge community to attend

East County Magazine covers the growing community opposition to the 588-acre Starlight Solar project, including residents' fire safety concerns, calls for a second evacuation route and dedicated fire truck, and the upcoming April 15 town hall at the Boulevard Resource Center with a representative from Supervisor Joel Anderson's office.

April 4, 2026 · East County Magazine
KPBS Public Media

Jacumba residents say solar project kicking up too much dust

Coverage of the real, on-the-ground impacts Jacumba residents have experienced since JVR construction began — a preview of what Boulevard could face. Construction dust, noise disruption, and an unspent community benefit fund.

January 26, 2026 · KPBS Public Media
KPBS Public Media

Residents say Jacumba's special charm threatened by solar project

Earlier KPBS coverage documenting community pushback in Jacumba as the 600-acre JVR Energy Park moved toward approval — the cautionary story Boulevard residents are watching closely.

November 20, 2025 · KPBS Public Media

Media contacts
& resources

We welcome journalists covering renewable energy siting, rural communities, environmental justice, and local government. This story is part of a larger national conversation about how we pursue climate goals without creating new sacrifice zones.

We can connect you with residents, tribal representatives, and fire safety experts who can speak on the record. We have photographic and video documentation of the land at stake.

Media Contact For interview requests, background, and documentation — contact us at the email below.
boulevardimpact@gmail.com

We have speakers available on: tribal and cultural concerns (Manzanita Band), fire safety and mitigation, cumulative environmental impacts, rural character and community. Contact us if you can speak on a particular topic or know someone who can.

Standing together

We are proud to work alongside tribal partners, local organizations, and community leaders who share a commitment to fair treatment of our land, our water, and our people.

Get Involved →