Here’s a riddle: What cools down faster, a battery storage plant fire, or the emotions of people who live and work adjacent to such a fire?
Sara Rubin here with the regrettable answer to the above, which is: I don’t know. But I am curious to see what happens when the Monterey County Board of Supervisors begins a discussion tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 28) about placing a moratorium on new battery energy storage system (BESS) facilities.
County Supervisor Glenn Church represents North County’s District 2, which includes Moss Landing where a BESS erupted in flames on Thursday, Jan. 16. Vistra’s Moss Landing Power Plant burned for days, and the fire consumed the entire facility. On Feb. 18, burnt batteries reignited. The pleas from residents to protect their health and safety began immediately and have continued since.
Now, nine months after the fire started, Church is asking his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors to consider a moratorium on BESS facilities until the County crafts an ordinance specifically to regulate them.
I asked Church, why now, nine months later? One factor is that it has taken a long time for him and his staff to get answers. “There was a lot of digging into and understanding what the role of the County has been and should be, and what the role of the State has been and should be,” Church says. He spoke to policymakers up and down the state about BESS regulations and got ideas along the way. “It reached a point where I felt I had enough information,” he says.
There were also other moratoriums adopted in other places. Solano County already had one in 2024; Orange County implemented one in 2025, inspired by the catastrophe in Moss Landing. Church watched to see if there were legal challenges; there were not.
The other factor is the temperature in the room that I mentioned up top. “By waiting, I hope we can have a little less reactive environment, [and instead] a more thoughtful environment,” Church says.
I hope so too. This approach is a productive measure—it’s not a call to forbid all battery storage development but to table it temporarily (up to two years), pending the creation and adoption of a county ordinance regulating BESS facilities.
“This industry is going to continue to grow,” Church says. “Moss Landing is going to be a major center for these batteries. We’re going to have batteries, but we need to have them as safe as possible.
“I am really hoping Monterey County will be at the forefront of having safe regulations, and let us move forward to the future.”
This is what progress looks like. You can participate in the first discussion of Church’s referral, or listen in, in person or online. The board meets at 1:30pm tomorrow at 168 W. Alisal St., Salinas.