A Texas-based energy developer, Jupiter Power LLC, has quietly filed plans with Washington County to build a massive 10-acre Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) facility on farmland-zoned property at the corner of NW West Union Road and NW Old Pass Road.
The site—currently zoned AF-5 (Agriculture and Forest, 5-acre minimum lots)—sits directly adjacent to dozens of family homes, small farms, and rural acreage properties. County records indicate this project is being processed under the little-known “Utility Facility” use exception, a pathway that has already raised questions about whether such a heavy industrial use belongs in a rural neighborhood.
What is Being Proposed
Jupiter Power, backed by global asset manager BlackRock, is one of the largest private developers of grid-scale battery projects in the U.S. Its facilities typically use rows of lithium-ion battery containers (often lithium iron phosphate, or LFP), each roughly the size of a shipping container. These are placed side by side on concrete pads, fenced off with security cameras, transformers, and cooling fans.
The proposed Hillsboro site would likely include dozens of these containers, operating 24/7 to store electricity and release it back to the grid during peak demand.
Risks and Concerns
Neighbors have already expressed alarm about the proposal, raising concerns that echo battles in other U.S. towns where BESS projects have been halted or forced to relocate.
Fire & Toxic Gas Risk: While rare, lithium battery failures can cascade into thermal runaway events, producing toxic plumes of hydrogen fluoride and other gases. Specialized firefighting response and evacuation planning are required.
Noise Pollution: Cooling fans and inverters run continuously. Independent studies show typical facilities can produce 45–60 dBA at the property line, disrupting the quiet rural character.
Not a Farm Use: AF-5 zoning is meant for farming and rural housing—not industrial energy facilities. Washington County must prove this is “compatible” with rural neighbors, a standard many believe cannot be met.
Property Values: Homeowners fear living next to a fenced industrial plant will reduce property values in one of Washington County’s most desirable rural enclaves.
County Process
Washington County staff have so far done little to notify neighbors. Land-use hearings are scheduled to proceed under a Type II review, meaning a County Hearings Officer—not voters—will decide the project’s fate after taking testimony.
Public notice has been limited to very few people, and many residents only learned of the project through word of mouth.
Chinese Batteries and PGE Arbitrage?
What’s Next
The Herald contacted Washington County planning twice this week to obtain access to the detailed plans, which are currently stored in the County files and not available online, where they should be for a fair review. NO RESPONSE HAS BEEN MADE. We will have the entire file by Monday and we will post it online. Feel free to email us or call us with your concerns.
The Herald urges residents to:
🚨 URGENT: No Hearing — Written Comments Due August 21st
Washington County is processing the proposed 10-acre Jupiter Battery Facility under a Type II review. That means:
No public hearing will be held.
Only written comments submitted by August 21, 2025 (4:00 p.m.) will count.
If you don’t submit a comment, you lose the right to appeal the County’s decision.
How to Submit Your Comment
Email or Mail to:
Maitreyee Sinha, Senior Planner
📧 maitreyee_sinha@washingtoncountyor.gov
☎ (503) 846-3835
Dept. of Land Use & Transportation – Current Planning
155 N First Ave, Ste 350, Hillsboro, OR 97124Online: Submit directly via the County’s project page:
👉 Washington County Project Comment Portal
What to Say (Talking Points)
Zoning Conflict: AF-5 rural/farm zoning does not permit industrial-scale battery plants.
Safety Risks: Fire, toxic gas release, and inadequate rural emergency response.
Noise & Incompatibility: 24/7 fan and inverter noise exceeds rural character standards.
Better Siting: This project belongs in Hillsboro’s industrial zones, not next to rural homes.
Deadline: Thursday, August 21, 2025 – 4:00 p.m.
⚠️ Important: You must submit a comment to be recognized as a party of record. If you don’t, you cannot appeal the County’s decision later.
The Bigger Picture
This proposal highlights a new reality: as Oregon’s power grid strains to support data centers, electric vehicles, and growth, rural communities are being asked to absorb the risks of massive storage projects with little say in the process.
Why This Location? (Data Center Connection)
Proximity to substations: Data centers in Hillsboro (Amazon, QTS, Flexential, Aligned, etc.) cluster around the Cornelius Pass / Evergreen / West Union corridor. They rely on multiple PGE substations (Evergreen, Shute Road, Helvetia, etc.) that tie into the transmission backbone.
Grid Support: BESS projects are typically sited close to load pockets (where demand is high) or transmission nodes (where congestion relief is needed). With 15+ hyperscale data centers drawing enormous 24/7 loads, a 10-acre battery plant sited just north of them almost certainly exists to stabilize the grid for that cluster.
Land Use “Cover”: Industrial land near the data centers is expensive and already packed. By sliding into AF-5 just outside Hillsboro city limits, Jupiter avoids higher costs and possibly stricter scrutiny from the City.
So yes — it’s highly likely this location was chosen specifically because of the concentration of data centers to the south.
2. Who Owns the Power?
Grid-Connected Asset: This won’t be a “private battery for neighbors.” It will be a merchant facility, connected to the grid and operated in wholesale markets.
Ownership: Jupiter Power (backed by BlackRock) will own and operate the asset, often through a project LLC (like Blackberry Grove LLC).
Dispatch Control: The power is traded in the wholesale energy market (in Oregon that’s BPA/PGE balancing authority, not ERCOT like in Texas). The battery charges when electricity is cheap or abundant, then sells it back when prices spike. The Profits go where???
Who Benefits:
Data Centers indirectly benefit because BESS reduces strain on the grid during peak loads, helping keep reliability near their clusters.
Utilities (PGE in this area) may contract for some of the capacity for grid services (voltage support, contingency reserves).
Investors (BlackRock/Jupiter) pocket the arbitrage profits and capacity payments.
Local residents get no direct access to the stored power — but bear the risk of fire, noise, and land-use impacts.
This is not a “green neighborhood project.” It’s an industrial asset placed in a rural zone to support energy-hungry data centers a mile down the road. The ownership structure ensures profits flow to out-of-state investors, while rural residents carry the risk.
The Herald will continue to investigate and report on this project. In the meantime, neighbors should prepare to speak up, ask questions, and hold Washington County accountable before this facility gets fast-tracked into their backyard.
IDEA FOR ALL OF US: IF JUPITER WANTS TO PLAY IN THE SANDBOX HERE, THEY CAN SELL POWER TO ALL OF US AT WHOLESALE RATES FAR BELOW WHAT WE PAY NOW!
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You are apparently correct that home owners like myself will get no “direct” benefit. But that misses the bigger picture. Everyone used these new data centers wheather we know it of not. We all use Facebook. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and many, many more companies who store the pictures, email comments and social media comments we make on these websites and tech companies computer related activities. We don’t directly benefit but do benefit from any attempts by them to use off time power and not force more power to be generated. I am not sure this idea and the benefits it offers are not of value to all of us. I live fairly near this site but inside the Urban growth boundary.
How do you justify or feel about PGE selling power to this company at a fraction of what we pay, letting them store it in dangerous Litium Ion batteries in a historic rsidential neighborhood, and the sell it back to us at a greatly increased numbers- all while employing no one, sending all the profits to Texas and Black Rock? What part of that is good for the greater Hillsboro community? And what would you say if one of these was built near your home? I assume you would be strongly concerned-
Thanks for commenting, Tim!
Dirk
Battery back-up smooth the power generation curve and reduces the cost of generating electricity. Not only does it reduce the amount of new generation that must be built to meat peak demand periods from 5pm to 9pm but it also reducing the amount of VERY. expensive electricity that PGE has to purchase at these peak times.
That benefits all PGE customers because PGE’s rates are based on their costs + a guaranteed profit margin . The more PGE pays to supply customers electricity the more every customer pays.
As to being afraid of LFP batteries – nope – I have 10 kWh of battery backup at my home.
Your house is full of lithium ion batteries. You have on in your pocket. They are ubiquitous.
This type of battery storage facility is something we need more of. They are critical when it comes to balancing the variable supply of our current green power optics, solar and wind. Storing abundant cheap solar energy during the day and selling it back at night prevents excess solar from being wasted.
Anyone with a home scale battery backup (if only I were in that income bracket) already does the exact same thing.
I grew up here. I’ve worked in data centers my whole life. They have fed me and my family as well as many others in this city. Instead of playing NIMBY politics, try welcoming your new neighbors. Consider that this might be the future. Why be left behind?
So Derrick- you work in Energy. You heard about the Lithium Battery fire here in Hillsboro inside a Data Center this year right? The fire depertment could not put it out- took forever and special containment. Hazardous fumes everywhere. You live in NE Hillsboro? Nice residential area? How would you like batteries 1000 times bigger that those failed batteries catching fire upwind from your home and family? I understand you make your money in Tech/Energy/Server farms. I do not buy the argument that there is nothing to worry about or that I am a NIMBY. NIMBY is actually a badge of honor when it comes to chemical plants, water using abusers, energy abusers, Tax evaders, and all of those sorts that TAKE much more then they ever give to our Community. So yes! I am KING Of The NIMBYs!
And yet the data centers have HUGE backup generators, ‘just in case’ so why is additional ‘backup required. The Intel plant at JF has enough generator power to run all of Hillsboro, and yet all they do is ‘exercise’ them using thousands of gallons of fuel. This plant seems unnecessary.
Yah this is a Power Arbitrage deal run by Black Rock and supported by the County- nothing more.
Dirk,
For a progressive you sure seem to be against progress. Until our government decides to give the ok to build some real power generation facilities like nuke, new hydro or LNG we need to store the solar or wind power we have. As you know the sun don’t shine all the time and the wind don’t blow all the time. BESS is not a horrible option sure they make the companies that build them some money but they cost hundreds of millions to build. Most of the batteries that are being used now are Tesla batteries made in the good ol USA..
Hi Matt – I guess you do not know me or about me. That is ok. NEVER against progress – but we have to be SMART! Tesla batteries are deadly and have a horrible track record. But for a moment let’s say they are just fine. Now let’s say that South Hillsboro, maybe just along River Road and Rosedale gets a similar application. But this on is 20 acres. And let’s say you owned land adjacent to that. And let’s say your area was zoned for future development and you stood to make $500K per acre in a few years, maybe when the Urban Reserve moves South. Would you feel different? Would your family care? Or would you be fine with let’s say a small battery fire that could be put out within a few days. You see it is all about perspective and what you do for a living and where we all live. This project belongs in an indutrial park. The fact is they do not want to pay industrial park prices. No Fire Hydrants, improper roads, nestled in a legacy acreage district- this is not in my view as simple as people want to believe. And I believe it is patently illegal to put it here.
Why do you act like this is some “desirable” rural area when there’s literally a bunch of industrial buildings and a substation *right across the street*? Your image of the proposed land conveniently crops all that out. One of them even appears to be a plastics manufacturer. I’d be much more worried about those fumes than an exceedingly rare LiFePO4 fire.
Additionally, if we want to see a transition to green energy these types of facilities need to be built. Oregon particularly is way behind most other states. Energy, like money, is fungible. The data centers are already there whether we like it or not. Even if these batteries aren’t directly supporting neighboring properties, they’re reducing strain on the grid as a whole and increasing reliability for neighbors.
(I’ll point out the irony of some of the clearly AI-generated content and imagery in this article coming from the very data centers you’re complaining about.)
It belongs in an Industrial Park- PERIOD!
I don’t understand why the author is speaking about energy arbitrage in such negative light. Buying electricity when the demand is low and selling when the demand is high is exactly what I would want my utility to do. In order to increase supply at peak times to make it CHEAPER for me as a rate payer!
Also LFP batteries are significantly safer than the older NMC batteries. In addition, they’re isolated outside per container so it would be incredibly difficult for a fire or explosion to spread unlike the tragic Moss Landing fire.
The operation and economics of the power grid is an increasingly complex system and it’s a shame the author is shining such a negative light on battery storage. Data center demand for electricity isn’t going away any time soon and I’d take a battery storage facility over a natural gas plant down the road any day.
And you live where? In Portland? This is farmland – this is Blackrock- they are not selling energy cheaper. They will buy it at a fraction of what we pay, and sell it back at reatail minus a little.
This is NOT farmland. It is a 3331 sq ft 4 bed / 4 bath single family on a big lot with a giant lawn. Zero farming is happening on this land today or anytime in the future.
Address is 21393 NW West Union Rd, Hillsboro, OR 97124. I encourage everyone to look it up on Zillow or Google Maps and decide for themselves what this land is being used for today.
It is zoned AF-5 – “The AF-5 District is intended to retain an area’s rural character and conserve the natural resources while providing for rural residential use in areas so designated by the Comprehensive Plan.
The purpose of this agricultural and forestry district is to promote agricultural and forest uses on small parcels in the rural area, while recognizing the need to retain the character and economic viability of agricultural and forest lands, as well as recognizing that existing parcelization and diverse ownerships and uses exist within the farm and forest area. Residents of rural residential tracts shall recognize that they will be subject to normal and accepted farming and forestry practices.” It’s always been for small farms and for residences on small acreages – that is what is allowed in this zone. EVerything else must meet compatability standards.
I’m in this neighborhood, thank you so much for bringing attention to it. We only found out from the neighbor up the street directly behind it. I can’t believe they didnt let us know, especially since we will be downhill from the fumes. I spoke with TVFR and they mentioned they do not have a way to extinguish the fire, only to make sure nothing around catches fire. Meanwhile we’ll be downwind from all the fumes. This is so outrageous.
Prepare to fight – It is happening as we speak. Send me your email and I will add you to the list!
Jessica- it is outrageous! Please get involved. What I think people are missing here is that this 10 acre parcel is surrounded by homes on roads not wide enough to even paint a line down. Many people will not even be able to sleep again in their homes.
I agree. I live in the neighborhood and am astonished nobody was notified. I’m sure all the people defending this project would feel differently if it were 50 feet from their home. Our neighborhood is residential and this project doesn’t belong here. Also, Black Rock, is the parent company of Jupiter Power — a global investment firm whose CEO, Larry Fink, is the second-largest shareholder in prison corporations GEO Group and CoreCivic. These companies, with over $2 billion in contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.), are responsible for 70% of all immigration detention, including the caging of children and the separation of families both at the border and within the United States. Approving this facility would be a direct financial and political support to a company complicit in the ongoing terror and dehumanization of immigrant communities, concentration-camp style detention, and the undermining of democratic values.
New update: https://hillsboroherald.com/neighbors-confront-county-over-mishandled-notice-in-jupiter-battery-case/
Another concern is what battery chemicals might get into the ground water? Those rural residents are, most likely, using wells for their water.
True- a very real concern. And Washington County knows nothing about how to safely approve a project like this one. A fire would contaminate famrmland, the homes nearby, and cloat over Bethany and schools? Hell no!
We are using wells and raising sheep, horses and food gardens.
Heather, I have horses, too, and worry about my well water with chemical-laden industry sprouting up nearby. I drink bottled water but can’t do that for the horses obviously.
So the idea sounds fine besides the location of the project. However In reality though I agree it just serves to enrich the local government and our of state investors and companies….. This will bring zero jobs for us in the short-term and long-term of the project ( just like the data centers it will support) I guess some of my food for thought, to put out for people to think about is wouldn’t it More beneficial to Washington county and the general public if the local government invested in services that could help create new jobs and retain the jobs here in Washington county and with that being able to help with the housing issue and address the fact that our housing market is outlandishly overpriced for what it really should be because of the larger tech companies they have bent over backwards for in the past and present
The questions are everywhere. With Hillsboro spending almost $300 Million to buy industrial land all around the massive power stations out off HUffman, whay is the City or County not building these? Can the People of Hillsboro have their own power company that buys wholesale and then sells back to our citizens at a reduced price?
Most likely not. From what I have learned living here almost for forty years is that all the utilities that are served in this county are ran from a monopoly. PGE will not allow another company to provide power in this area unless they have their fingers in the pie. So unless said company that the local government sets up to run this energy bank goes through PGE I don’t see it happening. With that being said why would PGE sell power at a low rate to a company so they can sell it to the consumer at a lower rate then what they would charge
They sell them power when no one is awake and huge discount. These facilities store it, and sell it back to buyer or onto the grid. It is unclear who is getting this power, and that needs to be discussed. But the money is that the new Data Centers coming up Helevetia Road are reserving it and can buy it at a massive discount. This is nothing more than Power Arbitrage!
Forest Grove in Western Washington country has its own Power & Light company. Cheap electricity as long as you live within city boundaries. PGE serves the rural areas around Forest Grove.
Right! And Forest Grove Power and Light could build one of these and save its rate payers a TON! I even have a perfect site for one of these!
Thank you so much for reporting on this, I had no idea. I absolutely do not want blackrock coming in and taking land meant for rural homes and agriculture. Especially when it has no benefits for Oregonians, only cons!
Interested in joning the fight which is now starting? I have uncovred very real abuses of the code in this application even being made. I think we can shut this down!
Sign me up. Davefarmer15362@gmail.com
This project, at This location is BS.
“Trust me, it will be fine doesn’t cut it anymore.
Oregon Government allowed Agent Orange to be sprayed on wildlands in 1969 to 1979. A million gallons was stored in Lake County. It is currently leaking into the ground after the state crushed the barrels (on purpose).
Lithium batteries on this scale is similar.
Oh good! Another source of tax revenue the sorority girls that run Hillsboro and Washington county can grift from.
NO! NO ! ON Jupiter Power LLC OR ANY OTHER TYPE COMPANY using land located near homes or schools or local businesses for any kind of power manufacturing.
We must not put any industrial projects north of Hwy 26 period. This is rural residential and small farm land. All these endeavors should be kept south on industrial land where infrastructure is already done, no residents to be at risk and no decrease in unique, family properties. This hazardous proposal must be a type lll or IV land use application initiating Goal 1- public input and Goal 5 -significant natural resources
We must tell the land use departments no zone changing here!
Yes- and I bet you will never guess the last name of the people that own this-
Ayla,
No residents at risk south of Hwy 26? I bet those who were forced out for Industry might disagree. Yes they were paid for their properties, but I imagine some would have preferred not to have to move. Nobody wants this in their backyard, but to say no harm will be done by moving it elsewhere isn’t true.
This piece was recommended to me by Google as “News,” which is extremely disturbing.
What is written here isn’t news. Ignoring the extreme one-sided bias of the article, it straight up gives talking points and contact information for people to call in and oppose the project…not to mention the inclusion of an AI-rendering of the project that isn’t accurate, as it’s not based on the project site plan. That violates….so many rules of journalism.
Dirk, you have posted about deleting Twitter and you’ve noted the inaccuracies of Fox News. Why are you contributing to the degradation of the media environment, like Murdoch and Musk have, by dressing up the “Hillsboro Herald” as a newspaper? It sure seems like you’re trying to actively mislead people.
Label your opinion pieces as “OPINION” clearly, like any outlet would (and no, a small box in the corner that doesn’t show up on mobile doesn’t count), and give this page a different name, perhaps one directly under your name. What you’re doing currently is indistinguishable from Fox News.
Andrew – I am posting yoru comments – the piece is emailed as an Opinion piece in the first section and it is a column I write. It is obvious – but it is accurate. The rest of your points I leave to you. I put out more real news and way more orginal content than anyone or any other source. This valley is up for sale and things like this, putting in an Industrial Use in a residential neighborhood that is not even allowed in the zone, is not Nimbyism. It is called protoectionism or having humanity and concern for my neighbors. Your off base, but I am too busy working on real things in this community to stop and explain it to you. You also work in Solar or Telecommunications? Great – that gives u an unbiased opinion.
Absolute waste of good agricultural land. I live near here and am 100% against this. Outside of reasons I need not list here, the shady nature of their dealings speaks volumes about their intent.
The link to the County’s Comment on a Development Application in the article is broken. The correct link is https://webapps.washingtoncountyor.gov/projects-comment/#top. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the comment form. The casefile number is L2500161.
Dirk – you ask how to justify a company doing this and not benefiting the public, but any PGE customer can do this. PGE customers can buy a battery backup unit for their home. You sign up for the time of day rates, which allows you to charge up at night with much cheaper cost ($0.09/kw) and then use that stored power during peak times.
Is that home owner wrong for storing cheap power in a dangerous lithium battery and not share it with his neighbors? Do they need to provide a benefit to those neighbors? I’ve read online that approx 15% of home owners have battery backup systems (stand alone or with solar panels), so that’s a lot of dangerous lithium batteries in the residential community.
But Dan, that is a small scale unit in someones home. And I agree and support that. This is 10 acres in a neighborhood. I support the idea – this is the wrong place- Period!
One other comment. Power Load Shaving is a technology data centers (and other companies) are employing. The intent is to reduce the load on the electrical grid during peak times, by storing power gathered during off peak hours. This is great for the power company and it reduces the load on the power grid. And it is great for the data center because they can store power at a cheaper rate and then consume it during peak hours. This storage can be done in house or by a third party company. It should like this may be what is being proposed here?
I believe sir you have nailed it!
Thank you for this article. I am writing to the county planner today.
How does this land-use decision fit with the Metro’s jurisdiction? Are zoning exceptions like this flagged with Metro?
No- Metro have no say. Thank you!
Last year, the Oregonian ran an article concerning the amount of energy the data center would us & warned of rising rates of electricity. The data center was projected to use almost as much as ALL OF THE HOUSEHOLDS IN WA CO. So who really benefits from this battery bank?
Look how many houses are up for sale downwind of the proposed site. Since it was so close to the local butcher, we took a look at the site. How will this affect our favorite farms?
Dirk – any news on accessing the plans? Would love to read them.
Thanks for bringing attention to this horror. I wrote to Maitretee Sinha at the address you provided with strenuous objection to this project.
This proposal is outrageous. A 10-acre battery plant right next to family homes and farmland is reckless and dangerous. Let’s be clear: this is not a harmless “utility”, it is an industrial hazard disguised as infrastructure.
These massive battery systems can and have failed. Fires at facilities in California and Arizona have forced entire neighborhoods to evacuate and even injured firefighters. Lithium battery fires release toxic gases and can burn uncontrollably for days. Putting that risk right beside where people live and raise families is unacceptable.
AF-5 zoning was meant to protect rural character, not allow corporations to drop industrial power plants into neighborhoods. If energy storage is truly needed, it belongs in industrial zones with real safety buffers, not in people’s backyards. Approving this would be a complete betrayal of public trust and common sense.
This should only be allowed on land zoned Industrial. This has no business being allowed anywhere else for obvious, numerous reasons. Is this being allowed in other various zones in Oregon? Is there any land use groups following all the various land use decisions in Oregon to make sure things like this aren’t happening? Do you know? Crazy all the things being forced on people in the name of “progress, need, climate change or things don’t stay the same” garbage.
Hope you guys can stop this.
I wrote my letter against this outrageous battery storage unit in the Bobosky land parcel. My husband and I have lived on old pass for 48 years. Our parcel of forested land (2.9 acres)is a precious old growth timber land that is home to red tailed hawks, owls and. other wild life. Sacred oak groves and former native peoples left arrow heads around Little Holcomb creek at the end of Old Pass. We have a well that would be contaminated by the battery parcel. I am terrified of fire and the Bobosky’s made it clear to locals that their goal is to make money …..
I appreciate hearing from both sides of this proposed BESS.
I’ve been told that Jupiter is hosting an open house, but I don’t have any details of when and where. Is there someone who’s written in that knows and can share this information? I think there’s value in attending I own property very near the site and I do believe it should be built on pre-existing industrial land. Please excuse any typos.
So the big idea is to park a ten acre fire prone energy experiment right next to people’s homes and call it progress. That is like installing a deep fryer in a preschool and bragging about innovation. I am all for renewable energy. I recycle, I compost, I even pretend to understand how solar panels work. But putting a massive lithium battery farm this close to homes is not green energy. It is green smoke waiting for a bad day. This is not good for those of us that live here. Insane profits for more corporations while we make all the risk should never be near where people live.
If this is really so safe, maybe build it next to the mayor’s house or your company headquarters for transparency. Because when the words explosive potential, toxic runoff, and residential zone all show up in the same sentence, that is not a plan. That is the opening scene of a Netflix disaster documentary.
Why are they not using this property for it?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/aCQh7zrzw6tBReQB7
You are on to something- and that is a good question which I have asked too. I smell a bigger plan. I wonder if that bigger site is udner option for a Data Center- and if it is then this BESS will used to suply super cheap power to the new data center. BlackRock bought Aligned Data Centers that has 3 sites in Hillsboro and so if that is the case then this whole thing makes perfect sense for them. Not for the neighborhood! Hmmmmm….