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    Mike Nicholas (he/him/his)

    Retired Captain at Kern County Fire Department
    Hiller Fire Protection

    Michael Nicholas serves as an Energy Storage Specialist & Fire Consultant with Hiller Companies. Prior to joining Hiller, he worked as a Captain and Assistant Fire Marshal for Kern County Fire Department for 26 years. During his fire service career, he led the development and implementation of their Battery Energy Storage program working closely with leaders in the industry. Currently Kern County has the largest active battery energy storage project in the Country at 3.2GWh partially supporting Edwards Air Force Base.

    Serve as a Subject Matter Expert and Fire Consultant for Utility Scale Battery Energy Storage projects. Engage with Planning Departments across the country to assist in Land Use Approval phases of projects. Teach Fire Departments across the country on behalf of projects, prior to operation of the site regarding: pre-planning for incidents, size-up expectations, tactics and strategies approaches to incidents, target hazard identification for CAD dispatch, annual operational permits for project sites, on going testing and maintenance programs to ensure operational readiness of battery sites, and guidance to local jurisdictions on ordinance development and code compliance.

    Participated in the recent NFPA 855 2026 revision and adoption process, providing critical input to support the needs of fire department and emergency operations. Assisted in development of ongoing testing and maintenance guidelines in the next NFPA 855 edition. Participated in numerous working groups Toxics, Large Scale Fire Testing, Suppression, and Explosion Mitigation.

    Presented at large battery conferences hosted by American Clean Power, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, Southern California Society for Fire Protection Engineers, and California Energy Storage Alliance.

    He is working with the California Energy Storage Alliance and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development on a campaign to help standardize the BESS submission, permitting and witness testing process in the State.

    Presentation(s):