Covina residents battle against a proposed battery energy storage facility

Community members pushed back against a proposal for a battery energy storage facility at a Covina City Council meeting on Tuesday night.

The council had been scheduled to vote on whether to allow construction of the project, but the agenda item was pulled, according to Eduardo Lomeli, associate planner for the city. Lomeli told LAist no new date for the vote has been set yet.

The proposed project is a 110-megawatt storage system that would consist of two structures that take up 3.4 acres in a mixed business and residential area in northeast Covina.

Covina resident Sandra Galvin spoke during public comment and asked the council to vote against the project. She said she had concerns about property values and public safety.

“No parent wants to wonder what would happen if a battery storage facility experienced a fire or other emergency near their community,” Galvin said.

The discussion Tuesday came after the city’s planning commission voted unanimously against the project in June following backlash from residents. At the time, hundreds of community members attended and spoke out against the development of the project.

The backstory

RWE Americas, a subsidiary of German energy company RWE, filed an initial study report with the city for the construction of a 110-megawatt battery energy storage system in Covina in January.

These types of systems store electricity generated from other sources, such as wind farms and solar plants, in large batteries. The batteries can then be tapped by local electrical grids during power outages or times of high usage, such as heat waves.

RWE Americas’ website says the project would enhance the reliability of the city’s electrical grid, create 150 jobs during its construction and generate over $17 million in property taxes.

The public response

The proposed project has received significant negative backlash from the community on social media.

Some residents allege a lack of transparency from the city regarding the project’s development while others cite concerns ranging from potential noise pollution to fires and smoke to insurance hikes.

There has been similar backlash from communities against proposed battery energy storage systems in the City of Industry and San Juan Capistrano in recent years.

Recent storage system fires include incidents in San Diego in 2024 and Monterey County in 2025. The San Diego fire had flareups for seven days following the initial incident. The Monterey County fire resulted in the evacuation of 1,200 local residents for 24 hours.

The root causes of these fires remain under investigation by the EPA, but have been linked in some instances to an overheating process called thermal runaway associated with the lithium-ion batteries used in these facilities.

Covina is one of eight storage projects in the United States proposed by RWE Americas.

How to keep tabs on the Covina City Council

The Covina City Council meets on scheduled Tuesdays. Meetings start at 7:30 p.m.

Here’s how you can follow along:

• Attend in person: The board meets at City Hall, Council Chambers, 125 E. College St., Covina
• Watch the live broadcast
• Here’s how to submit a comment or contact the council