ESCONDIDO, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — Escondido became the first city in the region to impose a moratorium on battery energy storage sites, some of which have been linked to recent fires in the county. City council voted unanimously to put temporary restrictions in place until they can iron out better regulations. "For the last couple years, we’ve heard all about how safe these projects are and then unfortunately Escondido experienced the fire, a relatively small fire, that interrupted that entire city block for two days. I think it’s important now to learn from that lesson as opposed to wait to learn that lesson until the next one," said Escondido Mayor Dane White. Despite state regulations, White says the goal is for the city to also create clear rules surrounding zoning, safety and an emergency response plan. However, not everyone was in favor of the idea. "Rather than prohibition on battery energy storage systems, you should have options before you address the workforce and workforce safety standards who builds and installs these matters. For example, in Otay Mesa, the battery energy storage fire that burned for 17 days, that was not installed or maintained by general electricians," said Cori Schumacher from IBEW Local 569. Proposed Pacific Beach high-rise sparks controversy White amended the proposal to include minimum workforce standards. For now the moratorium will last just 45 days. AES, the company behind the currently proposed Seguro battery storage site near Escondido, issued a statement saying in part: “AES supports the City’s desire to study battery energy storage system (BESS) technologies and develop appropriate development guidelines and policies; however, we strongly oppose the proposed moratorium on issuing any land use entitlements or other approvals related to BESS projects. Such a moratorium is unnecessary, given existing standards, and would be harmful to City and regional climate and clean-air goals.” "We are not opposed to battery energy storage. This is the way that the state is going. We have our climate action plan with very specific goals. Battery energy storage facilities help meet those goals and we need them. We just have to do it the right way," White said. The council is considering the possibility of a 10-month moratorium. They plan to revisit the topic at a meeting in late November where they will get an update from staff and vote on if they’d like to extend the moratorium and for exactly how long.