In a May 7 letter to county Supervisor Chris Lopez, chair of the Board of Supervisors, PG&E announced it plans to bring its 182.5-megawatt Elkhorn battery energy storage system in Moss Landing back online by June 1.
The Elkhorn BESS—an array of 256 Tesla Megapacks on 33 concrete slabs—was taken offline Jan. 16 when a fire broke out at Vistra's nearby Moss 300 BESS, and has remained so until PG&E could assess the impacts of that fire on the Elkhorn facility and then clean up any residue left by the soot it created.
That involved disassembling each of the Megapacks and inspecting and vacuuming all their parts, then putting them all back together again, as well as removing any fallout from the fire on the ground and other structures.
"As summer approaches, that power is necessary to effectively manage the demands of the California power grid and to protect PG&E’s customers from power limitations and related impacts," the letter reads. "Accordingly, PG&E believes it has the responsibility to return the Elkhorn Facility to service by June 1 to meet summer reliability needs and that it is safe to do so."
The letter also outlines the various safety protocols PG&E has put in place for the Elkhorn BESS, some of which were created after a Megapack caught fire in 2022, prompting the closure of Highway 1 and a shelter-in-place advisory for nearby residents.
In a post earlier today, May 8, on the social media platform Nextdoor, District 2 Supervisor Glenn Church wrote, "I had hoped that PG&E would take a more transparent and collaborative approach in addressing the concerns of our surrounding communities, which are still grappling with the fallout of the largest BESS fire in history. Restarting operations before investigations are complete and before stronger emergency protocols are in place is disappointing and deeply troubling."
An investigation into the cause of the Vistra fire, which is being carried out by the California Public Utilities Commission, has yet to produce any findings that have been made public.
(1) comment
I would hope they have adequately addressed concerns about fires. This energy storage system does not have a great track record. If this is not adequately addressed, perhaps the County can seek a TRO in court, though hopefully PG&E has adquately addressed this. The article does not give enough information for us readers to make a fully informed decision.
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