LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Hundreds of concerned neighbors came to a community presentation on a proposed battery storage facility in northwest Las Vegas.
The project held a voluntary community meeting at the Centennial Hills Library, where hundreds of neighbors learned about the project and voiced comments and concerns. The 43-acre site is off of Kyle Canyon Road and Shaumber Road, blocks away from new housing communities.
The proposed facility would be called the Aoki Energy Center. “Clearway is eager to hear feedback from the Las Vegas community about the Aoki project,” the website states.
“Clearway Energy Group is in the process of developing the Aoki Energy Center… This infrastructure is increasingly important to help stabilize local energy prices, with energy demand in the region forecast to grow 55% by 2044,” the project site states.
The battery storage facility promises to help relieve strains on the grid and drive down energy costs.
According to a company letter sent to residents, the project will be heard at the Las Vegas Planning Commission on January 13, 2026.
Clearway sent a statement to FOX5:
Energy storage plays a critical role in stabilizing electricity costs and helping prevent outages. Clearway is committed to being a good neighbor with the Aoki Energy Center, putting safety first as we work to support the fast-growing Las Vegas Valley, where energy demand continues to rise.
Safety is Clearway’s top priority. Today’s advanced energy-storage technology operates under rigorous safety standards and strict regulations. Clearway has worked closely with Las Vegas Fire and Rescue to incorporate their feedback and develop a safety plan that meets their requirements.
The Aoki Energy Center is designed with multiple layers of protection. It will use Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries—known for their strong thermal stability and lower reactivity—as well as a modular system in which battery racks are housed in individual enclosures. These enclosures undergo extensive testing to ensure that if a single battery overheats, any issue would be contained within that unit and prevented from spreading.
Many residents voiced concerns over the risk of large fires. In September, a large fire at a battery storage facility in Boulder City took hours and thousands of gallons of water for firefighters to put out.
“If a lithium battery plant goes up, it doesn’t go out very easily, as everyone knows,” one concerned resident opposed to the project in the area tells FOX5.
“Something bad happens, I can imagine the toxic fumes that are going to bother all the communities around here, all the residential people that are living here,” another resident tells FOX5.
A spokesperson tells FOX5 that the “chemistry and design” of the batteries at the Boulder City facility “differ substantially” and used “older battery chemistries.”
Clearway’s “Lithium Iron Phosphate” batteries are more “thermally stable,” according to a spokesperson. A “container-based design” limits the spread of any fire, the spokesperson tells FOX5, stating that fires have become much more rare industrywide.
City Councilwoman Nancy Brune posted on social media that the applicant must hold another community meeting after the applicant initiates the formal process. City officials cannot comment on the project because the city did not participate in organizing the recent meeting, the post said.
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