Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling for an investigation into the fire at Vistra’s battery storage facility in Moss Landing, which remains smoldering as of Jan. 22 but could reignite at any point, officials advise.
The request from Newsom comes on the heels of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors ratifying a declaration of an emergency on Jan. 21, and followed by similar calls for investigation by state legislators who represent Moss Landing.
“The Governor believes there should be an investigation into this incident to determine cause and any steps that can be taken to make older facilities like Moss Landing safer,” said Daniel Villaseñor, a spokesperson for Newsom. “As the Governor has said before, as this technology has evolved, California has done extensive work to advance battery safety and reliability.”
David Hochschild, director of the California Energy Commission, visited the site on Friday and Monday, while investigators from the California Public Utilities Commission were in Moss Landing on Jan. 22 to determine if any regulations were violated, and what actions should be taken before the facility goes back online.
On Jan. 22, Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, sent a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission, urging an independent investigation into the fire.
“The Moss Landing facility has represented a pivotal piece of our state’s energy future, however this disastrous fire has undermined the public’s trust in utility scale lithium-ion battery energy storage systems,” the letter reads, which was also signed by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz, and state Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz. “If we are to ensure California moves its climate and energy goals forward, we must demonstrate a steadfast commitment to safety, environmental stewardship, transparency, accountability and emergency prevention.”
North County Fire Chief Joel Mendoza said in a Jan. 22 briefing that conditions at the site remain stable, as the majority of the batteries have either burned or are compromised. There have been no flames since Saturday, with some smoke last seen on Sunday, according to Mendoza.
“There’s always the possibility of reignition,” he said. “I don’t want to give the public the sense that this incident is done by any means. We have not gone away. We are still part of this incident, and we are prepared to act if we do have a flare-up.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded its air monitoring on Jan. 20, looking for the toxic hydrogen flouride at nine sites in Moss Landing, Castroville and surrounding areas. The gas was measured at one-second intervals, and did not exceed the state’s health standards, according to Paul Amato of the EPA.
“We saw no cause for concern,” he said.
While people did seek medical care in the days following the fire with air quality-related symptoms at local hospitals, the number of such visits “did not significantly change from what was seen prior to the fire and from what we would expect to see at this time of the year,” according to a statement from the County of Monterey Public Health.
Air monitoring continues by the Monterey Bay Air Resources District and Vistra.
After the emergency declaration was approved unanimously by the supervisors on Tuesday, Supervisor Glenn Church requested the county send a letter to Vistra and Pacific Gas & Electric, urging the entities to keep their battery facilities offline at the Moss Landing site until the cause of the fire was determined and addressed. He also motioned to form a committee of himself and Supervisor Kate Daniels to work with experts in the field and other county and state officials to determine the best course of action in moving forward.
Both were approved unanimously.
“I understand this battery storage is essential for the future,” said Church, whose District 2 covers Moss Landing. “But we just can’t put that above safety. The technology is ahead of government’s ability to regulate it and industry’s ability to control it. The process that we are at now of learning as we go just doesn’t work. It jeopardizes communities like ours.”