522 E. Edna Place

Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) – 522, 534, and 680 Edna Place

SITE PLAN

AERIAL VIEW

Project Updates

Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) Project located at 522, 534, and 690 Edna Place in the M-1 Zone
Dates	Project Review Timeline
6/24/24	Preliminary Application Review Submittal - A preliminary review application provides an optional opportunity to review the project with city staff in a preliminary form and receive a cursory identification of potential project issues before submitting a formal application. Submitted and fees paid 6/24/24.
8-20-24	Pre-Application (PRE-APP)24-3 Response Letter
5-1-25	Formal Application Submittal by applicant (RWE) – SPR25-81
5-6-25	City Council Meeting – Seeking Urgency Ordinance to approve a 45-day Moratorium on BESS Facilities, set to expire June 20, 2025. A moratorium is a temporary halt to a specific activity, law, or legal obligation. Local government agencies often implement a moratorium to pause actions, address problems, or study an issue before resuming normal operations. (Approved)
6-7-25	City Council Meeting Public Hearing – Seeking to extend the 45-day Moratorium, set to expire June 20, 2025, by an additional 10 months and 15 days, which would be May 4, 2026. (Approved)
9/2/25	City Council Meeting – Seeking to amend CMC Chapter 17.54.030 to require a Conditional Use Permit for BESS facility land use. (approved)
11/5/25	First BESS Community Meeting @ Covina Senior Center 7:00 – 8:30 pm. Postcards were mailed to properties within a 1,000-foot radius.
11/25/25	Application submittal amended to include Conditional Use Permit (CUP)25-14 added to project (BESS Land Use)
11/25/25	Application submittal amended to include Variance (VAR)25-1 to exceed allowable fence height, allowing a 10-foot perimeter block wall, as required by LACFD.
1/5/26 thru 1/26/26	The Draft CEQA document, an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND), was prepared and noticed for public review and comment, with the circulation period beginning January 5, 2026, through January 26, 2026. The notification of the IS/MND was published in the local paper and mailed to properties within a 1,000-foot radius, with the IS/MND document accessible on the city’s website and viewable at Covina City Hall and the Covina Library.
2/25/26	Second BESS Community Meeting @ Covina Senior Center 7:00 – 8:30 pm. Postcards were mailed to properties within a 1,000-foot radius. Posted on city social media platforms.
3/24/26	Third BESS Community Meeting @ Covina Senior Center
6/23/26	Planning Commission Public Hearing – BESS Project located at 522, 534, and 690 Edna Place. Public Hearing continued to June 30, 2026.
6/30-26	Continued Public Hearing – BESS Project located at 522, 534, and 690 Edna Place. The Planning Commission approved a recommendation to deny the project to the City Council.
CC Mtg Date – Pending	City staff is awaiting communication from the applicant, who is currently considering whether to proceed with the project and whether to bring it before the City Council for action. We will share updates as soon as further information becomes available.

Planning Commission / City Council Meeting Dates

**NOTICE:** City staff is awaiting communication from the applicant, who is currently considering whether to proceed with the project and whether it will be brought before the City Council for action. We will share updates as soon as further information becomes available.

Public Hearing / Community Meeting Notices

CEQA Environmental Document

Project Description

A proposal for a Battery Energy Storage System Project, which includes a request for Site Plan Review, Conditional Use Permit, Variance and Development Agreement for the demolition of 2 industrial buildings totaling approximately 32,640 square feet and the construction and operation of a 110- megawatt (MW) battery energy storage system, on two sites totaling approximately 3.4 acres located at 522,534, and 680 Edna Place (APN’s: 8429-008-028 & 029 and 8429-007-005, 006 and 007) zoned M-1 light manufacturing with a General Plan Land Use Designation of General Industrial.

The Project is made up of two, separate but nearby, sites (east and west). The west site is bordered directly to the east by the SCE Cortez Substation, with commercial, manufacturing, and light industrial uses further east at 522 and 534 Edna Place (APN’s: 8429-008-028 and 029) This site is comprised of two parcels containing two industrial buildings totaling approximately 32,640 square feet. The second site is comprised of three parcels currently occupied by RV Outdoor Storage, with no buildings and located approximately 440 feet east of the SCE Cortez Substation (east site) at 680 Edna Place (APN: 8429-007-005, 006, & 007). The combined sites total 3.4-acres and are zone M-1 (Light Manufacturing). The general area immediately surrounding the Project site includes commercial, manufacturing, and light industrial uses. Further west and north and separated by Barranca Avenue, there are multi-family residential uses (approximately 300 feet) and a senior center and park (approximately 530 feet) to the northwest beyond these uses. There is a railroad alignment immediately bordering the south side of the Project site, with commercial and institutional uses extending further south.

In California, state legislation has been enacted to accelerate permitting for certain energy projects. AB 205 has broadened the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) authority to oversee the permitting of clean and renewable energy facilities, including solar photovoltaic, onshore wind, and energy storage systems, and facilities that produce or assemble clean energy technologies or their components. Known as the Opt-In Certification Program, this permitting process offers developers an optional pathway to submit project applications, facilitating faster deployment of clean and renewable technologies and was created to allow qualifying projects to bypass local approval and receive a state-level permit instead. If the applicant opted for the aforementioned process the city would be formally excluded from the ability to evaluated the project. To date, the Applicant has not submitted an application pursuant to this process.