SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The California Energy Commission has included environmental safeguards in its approval today of an advanced compressed air energy storage facility in Kern County.

The approval of the Willow Rock Energy Storage Center, proposed on a 112-acre site north of Rosamond, will include habitat protection for sensitive species, including western Joshua trees, Joshua tree woodlands, western burrowing owls, and Crotch’s bumble bee.

The measures were included in the project approval after the Center for Biological Diversity advocated for them.

“These commonsense measures show that the clean energy transition doesn’t have to come at the expense of our fragile desert ecosystems,” said Zeynep Graves, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These are meaningful steps that will be followed. The commission is requiring enforceable safeguards to protect the Joshua trees and desert wildlife that make this landscape so incredible.”

The energy storage center, with a capacity to store 500 megawatts of power, will bring renewable energy into California’s electric grid. Energy storage is a key component of the clean energy transition.

As a result of the Center’s advocacy, the project will include habitat protection on a 3:1 ratio, which means that for every acre of habitat disturbed by the project — including impacts characterized as temporary — three acres of habitat elsewhere for Joshua tree woodlands, western burrowing owls, and Crotch’s bumble bee will be protected.

The Center also pressed for strict compliance with the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act. Under the approved conditions, the developer must update its western Joshua tree census before conducting any construction activities. Any removal of western Joshua will require an updated census, relocation plan and payment of all required mitigation fees.