Quick Take
Pacific Gas & Electric said it has done the work to safely reopen its Elkhorn battery facility amid concerns from Monterey County officials.
Pacific Gas & Electric aims to restart its Elkhorn battery storage facility in early June, months after a massive fire broke out at a neighboring facility.
The utility company submitted a letter to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday detailing efforts it has taken following the January fire at an adjacent facility owned by Vistra Corp., and plans to resume service to its own facility, according to a written statement shared by PG&E with Lookout.
It aims to restart the facility by June 1 to support the electric grid as summer approaches, said the letter.
PG&E shut down its battery storage facility on Jan. 16 when its safety protocol equipment detected the Vistra fire. It has remained offline since then, said the letter to Monterey County officials. In the months following the fire, the utility company said it has “performed extensive inspection and clean-up” at its facility. The PG&E facility never caught fire.
The cleanup included removal and disposal of particulate matter found on the facility’s structures and management of water runoff following heavy rains. The utility said it has also conducted continuous air monitoring to assess any air quality impacts after the fire.
PG&E said it also coordinated with Monterey County Incident Command — the county’s system used to respond to emergencies — to inspect the site and review air quality data to determine whether the facility is safe to reopen, according to the letter.
The utility company said it has consulted with local and state agencies, such as the North County Fire Protection District and the California Public Utilities Commission, on safety plans in case a fire breaks out at the facility.
Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church criticized PG&E’s plans to reopen the facility on Facebook, writing that he “hoped that PG&E would take a more transparent and collaborative approach in addressing concerns” of the surrounding communities. Church added that restarting facility operations before investigations are complete is “disappointing and deeply troubling.”
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