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Fire rages at Vistra battery storage facility in Moss Landing

January 17, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

A fire is raging at the Vistra battery storage facility in Moss Landing leading to evacuations and school and road closures in the area.

Shortly after 3 p.m. on Thursday, the fire broke out at the 300-megawatt battery storage facility. Vistra evacuated employees and reported the fire. Because of the presence of lithium-ion batteries, firefighters are not engaging the blaze and instead plan to let it burn out.

Approximately 40% of the battery storage facility has burned. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Assemblywoman Dawn Addis said the safety and wellbeing of the community is her number one priority.

“I am deeply concerned and have serious questions about the safety of this battery energy storage plant,” Addis said in a statement. “I will be looking for transparency and accountability for why this happened again at Moss Landing. I am exploring all options for preventing future battery energy storage fires from ever occurring again on the Central Coast.”

Vistra has plans to construct and operate a 600-megawatt battery storage facility in Morro Bay. However, mutiple residents have voiced concerns the facility will endanger the public while negatively impacting tourism and the fishing industry.

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This is what the Tribune reported about Vistra and its report on a potential fire at the proposed battery storage plant in Morro Bay roughly 4 months ago:

“ A large fire at the proposed battery plant in Morro Bay would not cause “irreversible” or “long-lasting” health impacts to people living nearby, according to a March safety report commissioned by Vistra Corp., the Texas-based energy company that applied to build the facility.”


“The city chose the independent engineering company DNV Energy USA Inc. to peer-review the safety study, McCrain said.”


“DNV Energy agreed that the battery plant “poses no significant risk to the health or safety of the community during a credible threat under worst-case conditions,” the company wrote in a letter to the city.“


22

Cancel this battery storage plant (bomb) in Morro Bay and those stupid wind mill farms out in the ocean. Who comes up with this stuff???


44

Not in favor of the battery storage facility, the wind farms or any other experimental projects like it. But what is the ratio of refinery fires, Platform spills, pipeline bursts etc. compared to fires at places like this battery storage facility?


3

Kinetic energy storage is the future for our grid not chemical batteries. Batteries are fine for mobil or small applications but not 300 mega watts because of the number of battery cells required. The more cells the higher chance of a defect that can cause thermal runaway and the whole bank goes up in toxic flames.

For now we should be investing in hydroelectric, as we’ve all seen we need the water storage ass well as the energy storage. So build dams don’t remove them just include fish ladders.


32

Oh Dawn Addis – this is rich! You support building the “worlds largest” battery storage plant on same property that you and your cohorts from MB City Council – Christine Johnson, Jamie Irons (now working for Vistra) and Noah Smuckler (moved out of the state) said couldn’t be used for a sewer based on the “dangers”.


Stop using the sound bites that you have been spoon fed and either support your constituants or resign from office, so far your support of Morro Bay and surrounding areas has been disgraceful.


76

This is what happens when people jump too fast on the latest technology. Have we learned nothing from nuclear energy? We jumped in too early, built plants that have enormous potential to cause widespread harm if something goes wrong. We have the ability today to make safe nuclear plants that could never go boom by accident but since past issues have left such a bad taste in peoples mouths they won’t even look at the modern methods that are safe. The military has quickly switched over to sodium ion batteries for safety, just like they switched over to algae based fuels for national security (not having to rely on foreign nations to refuel and have another Cole bombing). I will never understand the mentality of ‘it is great for our military but bad for the citizens’. I remember the media labeling a certain president ‘the pond scum president’ at the same time our military was switching over to algae based fuels.


25

I would like to see all expenses in connection with this fire go to Vistra but we taxpayers will pay for the mitigation and damages, why? because we approved it.


16

I love the quote from the Fire Chief of Moss Landing: “We’re going to let it burn itself out” Might take two weeks, might take a month…


23

coming soon to Morro Bay! Plan your evacuation routes and keep your car running.


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