A 9,200 MWh lithium-ion project beside Southern California Edison’s Whirlwind Substation heads to a county hearing. Here is what is proposed, who is behind it and what comes next.
The Euismod Energy Storage Project is a proposed 1,150-megawatt, 9,200-megawatt-hour lithium-ion battery facility on 120 acres at 170th Street West and Rosamond Boulevard, about 8 miles west of Rosamond in unincorporated Kern County, California. Applicants Euismod Project LLC and Euismod Project I, LLC are the project companies, and 2024 utility contract coverage names Aypa Power as the developer. The Draft EIR comment period closed Sept. 21, 2026, and the Kern County Planning Commission hearing is set for Oct. 22, 2026.
Key takeaways
- The Euismod Energy Storage Project would store about 1,150 MW, or 9,200 MWh, in three 8-hour battery yards on 120 acres next to Southern California Edison’s Whirlwind Substation.
- The Kern County Planning Commission is scheduled to hear the Draft EIR, a zone change, four conditional use permits and a zone variance on Oct. 22, 2026, at 7 p.m.
- The Draft EIR, released Aug. 6, 2026, finds significant and unavoidable impacts on aesthetics, air quality, biological resources and wildfire, several of them cumulative.
- Aypa contracted part of the output in 2024 filings: 200 MW to San Diego Community Power and 400 MW of resource adequacy to Southern California Edison, both for 15 years starting June 1, 2028.
- Brookfield agreed in July 2026 to buy Aypa Power from Blackstone at a $7 billion enterprise value.
Euismod Energy Storage Project at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Project | Euismod Energy Storage Project |
| Location | Northwest side of 170th Street West and Rosamond Boulevard, about 8 miles west of Rosamond, northern Antelope Valley, unincorporated Kern County (ZIP 93560) |
| Applicants | Euismod Project LLC and Euismod Project I, LLC; Aypa Power is the developer named in 2024 utility contract coverage |
| Parent company | Aypa Power, owned by Blackstone Energy Transition Partners; Brookfield agreed to acquire it in July 2026 |
| Lead agency | Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department |
| Case numbers | ZCC 20, Map 233; CUP 18, 19, 20 and 21, Map 233; ZV 10, Map 233; SCH 2025120791 |
| Parcels | 10 parcels: APNs 261-104-10, -13, -16, -19, -20 and -21; 261-103-17, -20, -21 and -29 |
| Size | About 120 acres; 1,150 MW / 9,200 MWh (8-hour) |
| Use | Standalone lithium-ion battery system with two collector substations and two 220-kV tie-lines to Whirlwind Substation |
| Jobs | About 150 workers at construction peak over about two years; 2 to 6 full-time and 4 to 6 part-time operations staff |
| Status | Draft EIR public review closed Sept. 21, 2026; no decision yet |
| Next step | Planning Commission hearing Oct. 22, 2026, 7 p.m., Board of Supervisors Chambers, 1115 Truxtun Ave., Bakersfield |
What is the Euismod Energy Storage Project?
It is a battery energy storage system that would use lithium-ion batteries to store about 1,150 megawatts, or 9,200 megawatt-hours, of electricity drawn from the regional grid, according to the Draft EIR filing on CEQAnet. The 120-acre site is in unincorporated southeastern Kern County near Rosamond.
The county’s Notice of Preparation and Initial Study splits the project into three battery areas, each sized for 8 hours of discharge.
| Battery area | Acres, capacity and owner (per the Notice of Preparation) |
|---|---|
| South | 40 acres; 400 MW / 3,200 MWh; Euismod Project LLC |
| North | 30.3 acres; 300 MW / 2,400 MWh; Euismod Project I, LLC |
| West | 49.96 acres; 450 MW / 3,600 MWh; Euismod Project I, LLC |
What would be built
Battery enclosures would stand about 12 feet tall or less, with 50-foot setbacks from property lines. The plan adds two collector substations, two microwave communication towers, three operations buildings of about 1,200 square feet each, water tanks fed by on-site wells and two 150-kilowatt diesel generators at each collector substation.
Power would move over two 220-kV overhead tie-lines to Southern California Edison’s Whirlwind Substation, just south of the site. The notice describes three to five steel towers or poles about 140 feet tall, including two taller structures under 200 feet. Edison would add a 220-kV switchrack at Whirlwind.
Construction and operations
Construction would take about two years, peaking at about 150 workers. The notice calls for union labor paid at or above prevailing wage and about 55 acre-feet of water. Once running, the facility would have 2 to 6 full-time employees plus 4 to 6 part-time maintenance workers and use less than 2 acre-feet of water a year. It would operate around the clock for about 35 years, followed by up to 12 months of decommissioning.
Where is the Euismod site, and what was there before?
The site sits on the northwest side of 170th Street West and Rosamond Boulevard in the northern Antelope Valley, about 8 miles west of Rosamond, according to the county’s notice of availability. The Notice of Preparation puts it about 15 miles west of State Route 14 and 6 miles north of State Route 138. The nearest hospital, in Tehachapi, is about 19.5 miles north.
This is not a blank desert parcel. The Notice of Preparation describes the 10 parcels as mostly undeveloped except for high-voltage transmission lines, communications infrastructure and unpaved roads. Neighbors are sparse rural homes, the Whirlwind Substation to the south, existing wind turbines to the north and the Keyhole Wind Project, listed as proposed, to the west.
The location is the point. Storage developers chase interconnection, and this land sits beside an Edison substation and existing high-voltage lines. For owners, the lesson is that acreage next to grid infrastructure can draw buyers and uses that have little to do with its current residential or farm zoning.
Zoning before and after
The notice lists existing estate residential zoning on the parcels, from E (2 1/2) RS to E (20) RS. Zone Change Case 20 would rezone about 115.29 acres to A (Exclusive Agriculture), and four conditional use permits, CUP 18 through 21, would authorize the battery facilities.
Zone Variance 10 would allow several parcels smaller than the 20-acre minimum the new zoning requires. The project also needs nonsummary street vacations, which the CEQAnet record lists along with the zone change, permits and variance. For the general process, see our guide to industrial land entitlements and CEQA in Kern County.
How did the project grow from 600 MW to 1,150 MW?
Euismod first surfaced in utility contracts, and the reported capacity changed along the way. In May 2024, Energy-Storage.News reported that San Diego Community Power signed a 15-year energy storage services agreement for 200 MW / 800 MWh of a 600 MW / 2,400 MWh Aypa project interconnecting at Whirlwind, with a June 1, 2028 commercial operation date.
In December 2024, Southern California Edison sought approval for resource adequacy from a 400 MW / 3,200 MWh portion of Euismod, starting June 1, 2028, for 15 years, Energy-Storage.News reported. Aypa had applied to the California Independent System Operator in April 2021 (Cluster 14, queue number 2055) and had not yet secured an interconnection agreement. That request covered 600 MW of storage plus an equal amount of solar.
By the December 2025 Notice of Preparation, the county application described a standalone 1,150 MW / 9,200 MWh storage project with no solar. The 2024 utility filings described a project of about 600 MW.
Who is behind Euismod Project LLC?
The Euismod LLCs are project companies. Utility contract coverage in 2024 identified the developer as Aypa Power, a battery storage developer and operator. County documents list only the LLCs.
Blackstone acquired Aypa in 2020, when it was rebranded from NRStor C&I, pv magazine USA reported. On July 23, 2026, the publication reported that Brookfield agreed to buy Aypa from Blackstone Energy Transition Partners at a $7 billion enterprise value and $3 billion equity value. Aypa has 6.5 GW operating, under construction or contracted, plus a pipeline of more than 20 GW across 70-plus projects. The deal was subject to regulatory approvals, and no closing has been reported.
Aypa’s California record includes a fight. The Chino Planning Commission denied its 400 MW Dirac project 4-3 on July 15, 2026, the San Bernardino County Sentinel reported. Chair Lissa Fraga said, “We don’t have a BESS ordinance in place for the city.” Aypa appealed, and the City Council was set to hear the appeal Sept. 15, Champion Newspapers reported. No decision on the appeal has been reported. Dirac is a 13.89-acre site inside a city. Euismod is a remote, transmission-heavy desert site with few neighbors.
What does Euismod mean for Kern County energy and industrial real estate?
A battery yard adds no leasable building space, so it will not move vacancy or rents directly. Its real estate effect runs through land and power.
California passed 21,000 megawatts of battery resources in August 2026, according to the California Energy Commission, which called it “the nation’s largest battery energy storage fleet,” CalMatters reported. Elsewhere in East Kern, Hydrostor announced final California Energy Commission approval for its 500 MW / 4,000 MWh Willow Rock compressed-air storage project in December 2025. Euismod’s 9,200 MWh would be more than twice that. A nearby solar-plus-storage approval, the Galaxy Solar project near Mojave, won county approval Sept. 29.
In our view, the value story is the grid connection. Land beside a substation, with a place in the interconnection queue, can draw buyers that ordinary desert acreage cannot.
Power is also what industrial tenants and data center users are hunting for. A national brokerage report on North America data center trends for the first half of 2026 calls power availability and infrastructure delivery timelines “the most decisive factors” in site selection. A 2026 global data center comparison from another national brokerage says “power is still the primary constraint across global data center markets.” Our guide to industrial building power requirements covers utility capacity and service timelines.
Market research makes the same link to property value. A February 2026 national brokerage release on power availability as a driver of CRE value reports “measurable power premiums” in rents of up to 49% in some cases. The release also says “strategically deployed storage can cover peak demand hours faster and at lower cost than traditional grid upgrades.”
For context on Kern’s leasable market, a national brokerage’s Q2 2026 Bakersfield industrial report put availability at 10.1% with asking rents averaging $0.71 per square foot per month, triple net. A regional brokerage report measured Q2 2026 vacancy at 9.55%. Neither report publishes statistics for Rosamond or the Antelope Valley side of Kern.
What this means if you own land or buildings in East Kern
- Substation-adjacent acreage: Euismod shows storage developers will assemble small, residentially zoned parcels and rezone them when the grid connection is right.
- Contractor demand: a two-year build with about 150 workers at peak could lift short-term demand for laydown yards, equipment storage and lodging along the SR 14 and SR 138 corridors.
- Few permanent jobs: the Notice of Preparation projects 2 to 6 full-time and 4 to 6 part-time workers once the plant runs, so lasting space demand will come from service contractors, not a large payroll.
- Permitting risk: zone changes and conditional use permits make these projects discretionary, and conditions set at hearings can change size, layout or timing.
What are the battery safety concerns and environmental impacts?
On Sept. 18, 2026, roughly 1,200 still-charged battery modules ignited in the burned remains of the Moss Landing storage facility, which first burned in January 2025. A shelter-in-place order followed and was lifted that afternoon, CalMatters reported. California has passed several safety laws since, including measures by Sen. John Laird aimed at better planning for and prevention of fires. See our overview of battery energy storage regulations in California.
The Notice of Preparation says Euismod would follow NFPA 855, the national fire code standard for stationary energy storage. It lists smoke and fire detection, ground fault detection, automatic shutdown, spacing between enclosures, an incident command post and an emergency response plan under SB 38.
The Draft EIR found significant and unavoidable impacts on aesthetics (cumulative), air quality (project and cumulative), biological resources (project and cumulative) and wildfire (cumulative), according to the notice of availability. The state summary form ties the biological impact to western Joshua trees and lists scoping concerns on land use, water quality, hazards and noise. Under CEQA, approving a project with such impacts requires a statement of overriding considerations.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Jan. 26, 2026 letter on the Notice of Preparation flagged desert tortoise, Mohave ground squirrel, Swainson’s hawk, golden eagle, burrowing owl, Crotch’s bumble bee and western Joshua tree. Absent a take permit, it recommended avoiding each western Joshua tree by 290 feet. It also said an incidental take permit is needed “if take cannot be avoided.” The department commented on the Draft EIR as well.
What happens next for the Euismod Energy Storage Project?
The Kern County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Oct. 22, 2026, at 7 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, 1115 Truxtun Ave., Bakersfield, per the county’s notice. Here is the likely path after that:
- Board of Supervisors: zone changes in Kern typically go to supervisors after a commission recommendation, as the Mojave Micro Mill did in February and March 2024. No board date has been set.
- State permits: if western Joshua trees or listed species cannot be avoided, the project will need state wildlife take authorization.
- Ownership: Brookfield’s purchase of Aypa was subject to regulatory approvals, and no closing has been reported.
- Timeline: the 2024 contracts point to June 1, 2028 for commercial operation, and the Notice of Preparation estimates about two years of construction.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Euismod Energy Storage Project?
It is a proposed lithium-ion battery facility in unincorporated Kern County, about 8 miles west of Rosamond. The plant would store roughly 1,150 megawatts, or 9,200 megawatt-hours, on about 120 acres and connect to Southern California Edison’s Whirlwind Substation. Euismod Project LLC and Euismod Project I, LLC are the applicants, and 2024 utility coverage names Aypa Power as the developer.
Who is the developer of the Euismod battery project?
Aypa Power is the developer named in 2024 coverage of contracts with San Diego Community Power and Southern California Edison. Blackstone Energy Transition Partners has owned Aypa since 2020. Brookfield agreed in July 2026 to buy it at a $7 billion enterprise value, subject to regulatory approvals. County filings name only the two Euismod LLCs.
When is the Euismod hearing in Kern County?
The Kern County Planning Commission plans to hear the project Oct. 22, 2026, at 7 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors Chambers at 1115 Truxtun Ave., Bakersfield. The agenda covers the Draft EIR, Zone Change Case 20, conditional use permits 18 through 21 and Zone Variance 10, all on Map 233.
Is the Euismod site near homes?
Few homes are close. The site is in a sparsely populated part of the northern Antelope Valley, and the county describes nearby land as mostly undeveloped, with transmission lines, wind turbines and scattered rural residences. The closest school, Tropico Middle, is about 12 miles east. The nearest hospital is in Tehachapi, about 19.5 miles north.
What environmental impacts did the Euismod Draft EIR find?
The Draft EIR found significant and unavoidable impacts on aesthetics, air quality, biological resources and wildfire. Some are project-level and some only cumulative. The biological finding is tied to western Joshua trees. Public review ran Aug. 7 to Sept. 21, 2026, and approval would require the county to adopt a statement of overriding considerations.
How many jobs would the Euismod Energy Storage Project create?
The county’s notice estimates about 150 workers at the peak of a roughly two-year build, using union labor at prevailing wages. After startup, the plant would employ 2 to 6 full-time staff and 4 to 6 part-time maintenance workers. Construction, not operations, is the main source of local job demand.
Does a battery storage project affect nearby land values?
Euismod does show that land beside a major substation can attract storage developers willing to assemble and rezone parcels. For neighbors, the effect depends on views, setbacks and fire-safety conditions, so it varies from site to site.
Own land near a substation or transmission corridor in East Kern, or need contractor yard and industrial space to support energy construction? Call Kern CRE at 855-KERN-CRE (855-537-6273) or contact us. Get Kern County CRE news monthly: subscribe to the Kern CRE report.
Sources
- Euismod Energy Storage Project, Draft EIR, SCH 2025120791, CEQAnet (Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation), received Aug. 6, 2026.
- Euismod Energy Storage Project, Notice of Preparation, SCH 2025120791, CEQAnet, received Dec. 17, 2025.
- Notice of Availability for Public Review and Hearing on the Draft EIR, Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department, August 2026.
- Notice of Preparation and Initial Study, Euismod Energy Storage Project, Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department, Dec. 22, 2025.
- Summary Form for Electronic Document Submittal, Euismod Draft EIR, State Clearinghouse, August 2026.
- Comments on the Notice of Preparation, Euismod Energy Storage Project, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Jan. 26, 2026.
- Euismod Energy Storage Project (environmental documents), Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department.
- California community energy supplier SDCP secures 304MW of energy storage agreements, Energy-Storage.News, May 30, 2024.
- Southern California Edison seeks regulatory approval for 620MW of BESS resource adequacy, Energy-Storage.News, Dec. 10, 2024.
- Brookfield acquires Aypa Power in $7 billion energy storage deal, pv magazine USA, July 23, 2026.
- Chino Planning Commission Nixes Huge Battery Energy Storage Project, San Bernardino County Sentinel, July 17, 2026.
- Chino council to hear appeal on battery energy storage facility, Champion Newspapers, Sept. 12, 2026.
- Moss Landing battery storage fire flares up again, raising new safety fears in California, CalMatters, Sept. 18, 2026.
- California surpasses 21,000 megawatts of battery resources supporting the state’s electric grid, California Energy Commission, August 2026.
- Hydrostor’s Willow Rock Energy Storage Center Obtains Final Approval for Power Plant License, Hydrostor via Business Wire, Dec. 19, 2025.
- Power availability becoming key driver of CRE value, JLL, Feb. 26, 2026.
- Bakersfield Industrial MarketBeat Q2 2026, Cushman & Wakefield, Q2 2026.
- Q2 2026 Bakersfield, CA Industrial Market Report, Lee & Associates, July 2026.
- North America Data Center Trends H1 2026, CBRE, Aug. 27, 2026.
- Global Data Center Market Comparison, 2026 edition, Cushman & Wakefield, 2026.
- County Planning Commission recommends approval of proposed $5.4 million steel plant near Mojave, Tehachapi News, Feb. 9, 2024.
- Kern supervisors approve permits for first California steel mill in decades, Tehachapi News, March 20, 2024.
About this article
Kern CRE prepared this article with help from AI research and writing tools. An editor reviewed the draft, checked its facts against the sources linked above and edited it for accuracy and clarity. Details come from public records and the sources cited; unless stated, Kern CRE and ASU Commercial were not involved in the transaction or project.