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Update on Moss Landing Battery Storage System Fire
Monterey County government and business leaders are focused on the battery energy storage system (BESS) fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant. The Monterey County Board of Supervisors held a special meeting today about the fire, which provoked public comment critical of for-profit energy corporations and expressing concern about the future of battery energy storage systems in our area.
Your Chamber recommends avoiding false information regrettably prevalent on social media and other sources by regularly checking these websites:
County of Monterey 2025 Moss Landing Vistra Power Plant Fire Incident
Monterey Bay Air Resources District
Vistra Moss Landing Response
Concise Industrial History of Moss Landing Power Plant
In 1950, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) began operating five oil-fueled power plant units in Moss Landing. It built two more units in 1964. At maximum capacity, the power plant could produce 2,060 megawatts of electricity, making it one of the largest power plants in California history. In 1995, PG&E stopped operation of the five original units. PG&E sold the Moss Landing Power Plant in 1998, and it then had a series of owners resulting from acquisitions and mergers. Vistra became owner in 2018.
Following the end of PG&E ownership, Units 6 and 7 were upgraded in 1998 and two new natural gas fueled units were built at a different location on the site in 2002, named Units 1 and 2. The original five units and 19 fuel oil storage tanks were demolished in 2005. Units 6 and 7 ceased operations in 2016 and were demolished in 2024. Units 1 and 2 are still operational.
The unincorporated community of Moss Landing has been identified in the past few decades as the potential site of large desalination plants. These include the Basic and Regional Coastal Water Projects, Monterey Bay Regional Seawater Desalination Project (at the former National Refractories site, now the Moss Landing Commercial Park), Deep Water Desal, and People’s Desalination Plant. But instead it has become a world-recognized center for utility-scale battery storage energy systems. Cool summer air from the marine layer and a convenient location to major transmission lines make this site ideal for such facilities.
PG&E/Tesla owns the Elkhorn Battery Energy Storage Facility on the north side of the transmission lines and Vistra owns the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility on the south side. It’s the largest cluster of battery storage facilities in the world.
The fire occurred at the 300 MW Phase I section of the Vistra plant. Vistra has completed three phases of battery storage totaling 750 megawatts (MW). It has been seeking approval from Monterey County for Phase IV and Phase V, which would provide a total of 750 MW of additional storage.
The Future of Utility-Scale Battery Energy Storage Systems - “Pull the Plug?"
The track record of battery storage fires at Moss Landing is troubling. From the perspective of commerce, four fires have resulted in temporarily closures of Moss Landing small businesses and also perhaps have reduced visitors to Monterey County because of health concerns and Highway 1 closures.
However, in a larger perspective, your Chamber warns that terminating utility-scale battery storage in California would eliminate a critical option for storing energy at times when solar and wind energy (and other renewable energy) are not being produced for immediate use. The State of California has estimated a need for 52,000 MW of battery storage by 2045 to achieve its climate goals.
What are credible alternative “climate solutions?” One is to use government regulations to compel reduced energy consumption by businesses, households, and individuals. In fact, Monterey County is proposing a Community Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CCAAP) that includes ending household use of natural gas and mandating expensive equipment and production changes for agricultural operations. Use the county’s Climate Action Simulator to see how their options for greenhouse gas reduction would result in costly and intrusive changes to personal behavior and how businesses operate.
And more radical solutions are proposed: at the Board of Supervisors meeting today, one resident called for ending the drive for Artificial Intelligence (AI), noting correctly that AI calculations consume a lot of power. Your Chamber of Commerce will monitor the possible shifts in climate change response policies that could occur as a result of this high-profile fire incident in our own region.
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