The fire at a Northern California lithium battery storage facility prompted a state of emergency in Monterey County and a special meeting Tuesday on the fire and ongoing response. Wilson Walker reports that while the fire has burned itself out,

A fire at the world’s largest battery storage plant in Northern California smoldered Friday after sending plumes of toxic smoke into the atmosphere, leading to the evacuation of up to 1,500 people. The blaze also shook up the young battery storage industry.

The blaze broke out late Thursday at the Monterey County plant that stores and sells power to Pacific Gas & Electric.

A fire broke out at the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in Central California Thursday. The battery power plant is the largest in the world according to the company, Vistra, that owns it.

A fire at a one of the world’s largest battery plants in California contained tens of thousands of lithium batteries that store power from renewable energy sources.

Probably the only reasonable response to such a speech.

Then in September 2022, a fire broke out at the PG&E Elkhorn Battery plant. Police closed Highway 1 for 12 hours. An investigation found it was caused by an improperly installed vent shield on one of the 256 units, which allowed rainwater to get in and short out the batteries. There were no injuries to firefighters, PG&E employees or the public.

As the fire lithium battery storage facility that led to evacuations in Moss Landing last week continues to smolder days later, concerns are being raised about the impacts to the surrounding environment.

The Moss Landing battery plant fire has sparked concerns that Morro Bay isn’t the right place for a similar facility. On Monday, one California State Assembly member echoed the calls of those constituents — and urged Texas-based energy company Vistra Corp.