With the big battery plant fire in Moss Landing still fresh in everyone’s mind, forces appear to be stacking up against a project to build one in Morro Bay.
On Thursday, Jan. 16 at about 3 p.m. Vistra Energy’s 300-megawatt Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) facility in Moss Landing caught fire and within a short time, was burning out of control.
The battery plant was in an old power plant building and part of Vistra’s larger 750 MW battery storage complex at the Moss Landing Power Plant.
That fire, which burned out of control for about two days, destroyed the facility and sent residents — and to an extent officials — into a panic, as the column of thick, black smoke billowed 1,000 feet into the air and 1,200 people had to evacuate the immediate area.
The incident dominated the entire MLK Day Weekend’s news, as the fire led to closures of several roads around Moss Landing, the closing of schools a day early for the 3-day holiday, and angered politicians on several levels.
Now, over a week after the fires stopped smoldering, the investigation into the cause is well underway.
And it appears no one wants to get to the bottom of what happened more than Vistra, which has hundreds of millions of dollars invested in that facility and plans to invest some $900 million into a 600-megawatt BESS at its Morro Bay Power Plant property.
“Our top priority,” reads a statement from Jenny Lyon, Vistra’s senior manager for communications & media relations, “is the safe operations of every facility in our portfolio. A comprehensive review of the incident at the 300-MW Phase I system at our Moss Landing facility is underway, which will inform current and future energy storage operations.”
Assemblywoman Acts
Our local Assemblywoman, Dawn Addis, who represents both Moss Landing and Morro Bay, had been a big supporter of such battery plants and the fight against climate change in general. But the devastation and panic the Moss Landing fire caused, has her singing a different tune.
Addis issued a statement to her constituents: “I am here to ensure California moves its climate and energy goals forward — and we MUST do that — we need to demonstrate a steadfast commitment to safety, environmental stewardship, transparency, accountability and emergency prevention.
“This is why my first bill of the 2025 legislative session is my Battery Energy Safety & Accountability Act (AB 303).”
Moss Landing has opened her eyes. “Two weeks ago,” Addis said, “I witnessed the Moss Landing battery energy storage fire firsthand and visited evacuees who were displaced by the fire. These flames burned too hot for firefighters to go near, could not be extinguished for six days and blanketed sensitive surrounding habitats with toxic heavy metals. I vowed to work my hardest to never have this happen again.
“In response, I have called for common-sense transparency, accountability and prevention of dangerous battery energy storage disasters.”
She also wrote letters to the California Public Utilities Commission “to conduct an independent investigation.” She also wrote to Vistra calling on the company “to keep its battery energy storage offline until safety is ensured.”
Addis’ AB 303 has two key issues:
• Ensures local voice is restored to the permitting process for utility-scale battery energy storage systems; and,
• Creates buffer zones so that these facilities are not built next to schools, homes, hospitals, thriving agricultural lands, estuaries and other important natural habitats.
Addis has also called on Vistra to drop its Morro Bay project and the California Energy Commission and Coastal Commission to both deny it.
Elkhorn Slough
Among the areas that have been impacted by the Moss Landing Fire is the Elkhorn Slough, a nearly 1,000-acre estuary system that sits adjacent to the power plant property.
The slough was closed during and after the fire while water testing was done. At least one study found heavy metals in the slough.
According to a report from CBS News, “Elevated concentrations of heavy metals have been detected at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve by scientists from San Jose State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories following a recent fire at Vistra Moss Landing Power Plant and Energy Storage Facility.”
The Moss Landing Lab has been monitoring the power plant for many years and according to Professor Ivano Aiello, the Chairman of the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, the numbers took a big jump.
CBS reported that “field surveys, conducted within a radius of approximately two miles from the power plant, measured a dramatic increase in marsh soil surface concentration of three heavy metals: nickel, manganese and cobalt. This dramatic increase relates to both the shallow subsurface and the baseline measurements conducted in the area before the fire, according to the university.”
The metals discovered were described as “nanoparticles” ranging in size from one to 20 microns and are “components of cathode materials used in lithium-ion batteries, linking their presence to airborne emissions from the fire.”
The lab added that these metals may chemically transform as they spread, potentially impacting ecosystems and food chains.
Like Morro Bay Estuary, Elkhorn Slough sees a myriad of fish and sea creatures enter the protected waters to spawn and lay eggs. It is also home to a large population of Southern Sea Otters.
But so far, according to CBS’ report, there haven’t been fish die-offs or any other visible effects. Assemblywoman Addis was quoted by CBS as being worried about the elevated levels of heavy metals.
“I am alarmed and deeply concerned,” Addis said, “to hear the high concentrations of heavy metals have been identified within one of our most cherished and fragile ecosystems, Elkhorn Slough and its surrounding areas. These concentrations are directly linked to the battery energy storage fire. This is why I stand firm in my call for independent investigations by the CPUC and expect all environmental data to be taken into consideration.”
Commission Seeks Answers
The Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) sent a team of investigators from its Safety and Enforcement Division to Moss Landing to investigate the fire and its aftermath.
At center stage is Senate Bill 38, proposed in 2023 by State Sen. John Laird, “to require battery storage facilities to develop and submit an emergency safety plan, recognizing the growing prevalence of these systems to meet our state’s clean energy goals,” Laird said.
He explained that SB 38 requires each BESS to write an emergency response and emergency action plan and file it with the county, which he said Vistra had done before the bill’s passage. However, the company never filed anything after passage of SB 38, according to Sen. Laird.
“There are questions as to whether the report covered plans for an incident of this magnitude,” Sen. Laird said. “Furthermore, it appears that PG&E has not filed an emergency safety plan for their adjacent battery storage facility in compliance with the law.”
Laird Too Wants Action
In a recent statement released by Sen. Laird, he said, “The recent fire at the Moss Landing battery storage facility is deeply concerning, leaving the community searching for answers over a week later. An independent investigation is needed to sufficiently ground truth the causes of this fire and any potential impacts to environmental or personal health.”
He’s called on Vistra to take necessary steps to regain the public’s trust.” He added that Vistra must:
• Provide the Monterey Bay Air Resources District with sufficient “SPM Flex” gas detectors to effectively track hydrogen fluoride (HF) levels;
• Collaborate with the North County Fire Protection District to expand their capacity and readiness to respond to incidents of this scale;
• Initiating additional environmental monitoring and testing such as air, soil, water, and particulate matter assessments; and,
• Presenting emergency safety plans required under SB 38 at a public forum to increase transparency and accountability.
Sen. Laird appears to be taking a more cautious approach in the face of the “climate emergency.”
“It is essential,” he said, “to base future policy decisions regarding battery storage, and green energy as a whole, on clear, evidence-based findings to ensure safety and accountability moving forward.”
City Approves New Law
The Morro Bay City Council, after Moss Landing, too is taking a hardened approach, especially after residents flooded their in boxes with letters, calling on the Council to outright deny Vistra’s project.
This even though last October, the company “paused” its project with the City and said it would seek a permit to build through the CEC and Coastal Commission, under provisions of another bill — AB 205, passed in 2022.
That bill gave energy projects like the Morro Bay BESS, a work-around if they meet local opposition. The companies can apply directly to the CEC and Coastal Commission bypassing the local authority.
City BESS Ordinance
Since Vistra paused the City’s review on its project, the City Council moved forward with a local ordinance that would greatly restrict future battery projects.
Last Nov. 12, the City Council voted to initiate an “emergency ordinance” that would correct a deficit in the City’s Municipal Codes. Until now, there were no provisions, rules or regulations on so-called “grid scale” BESS facilities.
“The City of Morro Bay’s zoning code,” reads a passage from Community Development Director, Airlin Singewald’s staff report, “does not contain a land use classification or any specific use standards [e.g., setbacks, etc.] for BESS projects.”
Since a BESS isn’t something the City has ever had to consider, it fell in between the cracks of the different classifications of uses.
And under the law, the community development director is charged with assigning an appropriate designation “that is ‘substantially similar in character.’ The zoning code further states that ‘Land uses not listed…or not found to be substantially similar’ to classified uses are prohibited.”
So the Council had two basic approaches it could take — and out-right ban on BESS facilities within City Limits, or setting up restrictions dealing with such things as set-backs from sensitive land uses like schools and churches. Singewald recommended against an out-right ban, arguing that it could simply push such projects directly into the hands of the CEC under AB 205.
Voters Oppose Bess Too
That November vote by the Council came after voters in the November Election approved Measure A-24, an initiative that would require the City to seek approval of voters before changing the zoning on the power plant property.
Vistra’s property was rezoned to “Visitor-serving/commercial” from “Industrial,” with the City plan update a few years ago, before the BESS project was submitted.
It has to be changed back to accommodate the BESS. A-24 simply requires approval by voters to make that change.
So while the Council had prior approved an Urgency BESS Ordinance, it was only good for some 45 days, with options in the law to extend it for as much as 2 years.
That’s what the Council unanimously did on Jan. 29, in the aftermath of the Moss Landing Fire.
Not Quite a Ban
The vote by the Council is not quite a full-blown ban on battery plants.
Urgency Ordinance No. 668 would Impose, “a Prohibition on the Application Acceptance, Approval, Commencement, Establishment, Operation, Relocation or Expansion of Grid-Scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) within the City Limits.”
The vote also calls on the staff to return to the City at the Council’s Feb. 25 meeting with an extension for 2 years.
During that interim, the City must work on a permanent ordinance to replace the temporary one.
But as Singewald told the Council, with AB 205 in play, there’s nothing to stop a company from bypassing the City and going directly to the State, though at this time, after the disaster of Moss Landing, anyone might find that possibility going up in flames as well.
