January 30, 2025: Regulators in California are calling for a major overhaul of safety standards for BESS plants in the wake of a string of incidents over the last three years — including a major fire on January 16 at Vistra’s 300MW Moss Landing battery storage facility.
Meanwhile — as per the cover story in the coming issue of Batteries International — the insurance industry is calling for higher premiums and more rigorous financial assessments,
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said on January 27 it wants to compel energy storage system owners to report safety-related incidents such as injuries, fatalities, thermal runaways, fires, or other system failures — which they are not required to do at present.
And CPUC has launched its own probe into the January 16 fire at the Vistra-owned lithium ion BESS.
Meanwhile, in a related move, local councillors in the city of Morro Bay, which lies around 140 miles to the south of Moss Landing, voted unanimously on January 28 for a temporary ban on ‘applications, approvals, establishments, relocations, or expansions’ of certain BESS facilities within city limits.
That vote came as California State Assembly member Dawn Addis, who represents Morro Bay, called on Vistra to withdraw a pending application to build a BESS plant in the city.
Addis said on January 24 she had also introduced draft legislation to improve safety and accountability of BESS facilities in California and “restore local oversight”.
She said the bill would require critical local engagement in the permitting process for battery or energy storage facilities, “and create environmental setback requirements for sensitive areas, including schools, hospitals, and natural habitats”.
Addis was backed by Monterey County authority supervisor, Glenn Church, who said on January 19 the Vistra fire could “best be described as a worst-case scenario”, adding: “This is a wake-up call for this industry.
“If we’re going to be moving ahead with sustainable energy, we need to have a safe battery system in place.”
CPUC’s proposal
New standards proposed by CPUC, which regulates services and utilities, protects consumers and safeguards the environment, include ensuring BESS owners have emergency response and action plans and having the power to order technical updates to improve safety, reliability, and effectiveness of operation and maintenance.
Updates could include establishing “technical logbook standards” for battery storage systems, and expanding requirements for emergency plans that relate to all electric generating facilities.
The proposal will be on the CPUC’s agenda for a vote on March 13.
CPUC listed a number of what it said were other safety incidents at BESS plants in the state in recent years, including earlier incidents at the Vistra facility. These include:
• Vistra BESS, September 4, 2021;
• Vistra BESS, February 13, 2022;
• Terra-Gen Valley Center Energy Storage Center, April 5, 2022;
• PG&E Elkhorn BESS facility, September 20, 2022;
• Terra-Gen Valley Center Energy Storage Center, September 18, 2023;
• SDG&E Kearny South Energy Storage, April 29, 2024;
• Convergent Orange County Energy Storage 2, July 17, 2024;
• REV Renewables Gateway Energy Storage Facility, May 15, 2024;
• SDG&E Northeast Operations Center, Escondido, September 5, 2024.
Vistra’s response
In terms of the January 16 fire, Vistra said in an update on January 22 that conditions at Moss Landing remained stable, although there continued to be a limited amount of smouldering.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. However, no injuries had been reported as a result of the fire or subsequent operations by first responders and others.
Future priorities are safely removing the remaining batteries from the building when conditions permit, the utility said.
The company has retained a structural engineering firm to advise with this work and planning is underway.
“We have begun our investigation and retained multiple outside experts to assist, and we are prepared to cooperate with any local or state investigations as well.”
Vistra said representatives of the battery manufacturer, LG Chem, were also on site.
Background
The resurgence of devastating wildfires in California presents a dilemma for regulators and lawmakers, because utilities, businesses and homeowners have turned to battery storage to try and avoid the threat of chronic blackouts.
In 2010, the state of California authorized CPUC to evaluate and determine energy storage targets, with the goal of a major expansion of energy storage and a procurement target of 1,325MW by 2020.
The deployment of battery storage systems grew significantly since, increasing from 500MW in 2019 to over 13,300MW state-wide in 2024, CUPC said.
Likewise, battery storage system technologies and standards have also matured over time.
CUPC has said battery storage is a key technology relied on by the state to enhance reliability and reduce dependency on polluting fossil fuel plants.
Last year, California brought more than 7,000MW online — the largest amount in a single year in California’s history. This includes over 4,000MW of new battery storage, the regulator said.
California’s current installed battery storage capacity is over 20% of California’s peak demand. The state’s projected need for battery storage capacity is estimated at 52,000MW by 2045.
