A California-based company has big plans in Eastern Oregon.

A proposed battery storage facility could land near Irrigon, located in Morrow County, as part of an expansive push from Copia Power, which also recently proposed a data center near Hermiston.

Morrow County has spent the past 15 years becoming a hub for energy-related infrastructure, beginning with the arrival of Amazon’s first data center in 2011. Now, the proposed standalone battery storage project — which would be the first of its kind in the county — could introduce another type of energy infrastructure as the region grapples with growing electricity demand and the challenges of powering its expanding industrial base.

City officials say this project could bring additional tax revenue, while residents say the only people benefiting from the project are the companies developing it. Copia Power declined to comment.

Copia Power is a U.S. developer and operator that builds large-scale battery storage facilities and data center projects.

Records obtained by OPB show Sawtooth DevCo LLC, a subsidiary of Copia Power, requested a pre-application meeting with the Morrow County Planning Department in December 2024 for a proposed 40-acre battery storage facility.

However, records show the official application wasn’t submitted until late September 2026, which is still under review. The records also don’t establish the company’s relationship between the proposed battery facility and the 100-acre proposed data center in Hermiston — the first campus that would be on federal land in Oregon.

In a phone interview, Morrow County Planning Director Tamra Mabbott said this standalone battery farm includes a 237-megawatt battery energy storage system, substation, switchgear, and a Gen-tie transmission line that would connect to the nearby Longhorn Substation in Boardman.

Todd Olinsky-Paul, senior project director at Clean Energy States Alliance, a nonprofit that focuses on clean energy technologies, said battery storage could help data centers manage spikes in electricity demand.

“If you want to make sure the data center isn’t burdening the grid during peak times and you don’t want to install new generation and want to shift when you have excess power or when you need it, then you use the battery storage,” Olinsky-Paul said.

He said battery storage facilities can mitigate data centers’ added demand for electricity and the cost of that extra demand.

The project is under consideration just weeks after Gov. Tina Kotek ordered the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to pause air and water pollution permits until July 2027.

DEQ spokesperson Carisma Sanchez said the agency has no current application record for the proposed Morrow County battery project and could not say whether it would be affected by the data center permitting pause.

“As directed by Governor Tina Kotek, DEQ is continuing to work on permit applications for data centers up to the point where a draft permit is completed and ready for public comment. Once that stage is reached, DEQ will pause work until we receive further instructions from the Governor, or until July 1, 2027, whichever comes first,” Sanchez stated in an email.

Mabbott said having a project like this in Irrigon will provide a new source of needed electricity.

“We’re seeing a large amount of growth in the county and all the new energy generation that can come online helps support new growth, whether it be residential or data centers or other industrial or commercial development,” Mabbott said.

But Irrigon resident and farmer Barrett Dash said the only people benefiting from these projects are the companies that build them.

“They have swayed every bit of influence that they can with all the money,” Dash said.

At the most recent Irrigon City Council meeting, he said, many residents expressed concerns about any potential data centers or battery farms in the area.

Residents filled the room, Dash said, with at least half a dozen giving public comments, opposing any data centers or battery storage in Irrigon — surprising the council.

“They said, ‘It’s great to see so many people here because normally it’s just us and a couple people telling jokes,’” he said.

Mayor Michelle Patton said close to 30 people attended the meeting to express concerns about rumors swirling on social media that Amazon had proposed an Irrigon data center, she said.

“At this point, no application from Amazon has been made,” Patton said.

She said she wasn’t aware of Copia Power’s proposal near Irrigon until OPB reached out. She said she would need to do more research before commenting on the energy company’s project.

Once Morrow County reviews the application, Mabbott said, it will send out a notice to property owners adjoining the project site, and to other public entities at local and federal levels that may have an interest or require oversight in the review of the application.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/10/29/data-center-company-battery-farm-site-eastern-oregon/