Quick Take
Pacific Gas & Electric is delaying reopening its Elkhorn battery storage facility after identifying equipment malfunctions. In May, the utility company had announced plans to restart operations at its facility on June 1, after being offline since January following the massive fire at a neighboring facility in Moss Landing.
Pacific Gas & Electric says it’s delaying the reopening of its Moss Landing battery storage facility, next to the site of a separate massive battery storage fire in January, after identifying equipment malfunctions over the weekend.
On Sunday, PG&E had begun to restart service at its facility when employees identified a clamp failure and coolant leak in one of its 256 battery megapacks, according to a written statement shared with Lookout by PG&E. The utility company did not provide any further details on the issues it identified with its equipment.
“We are working to remediate the issue and out of an abundance of caution we are deferring the facility’s return to service until a later date,” the company’s statement said. PG&E said it’s taking a “conservative approach” to restarting its battery storage facility in order to identify any operational issues.
PG&E had aimed to restart operations at its facility, located in Moss Landing, in early June months after the massive fire broke out at the neighboring Vistra Corp.-owned facility. PG&E’s facility automatically disconnected from the grid shortly after the fire broke out, and has remained offline since.
Vistra, the Texas-based company that owns the battery plant adjacent to PG&E’s facility, has not responded to Lookout’s request for comment about the status of its battery storage facility and any future plans to restart operations. In a quarterly earnings call in February, Vistra said it expected to receive $500 million in insurance payouts after the fire at the facility.
In the months following the fire, PG&E said it had “performed extensive inspection and clean-up” at its facility in a letter submitted to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors last month. The PG&E battery plant 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. PG&E said it has conducted continuous air monitoring to assess any air quality impacts following the fire.
The utility company also noted in its letter to Monterey County officials that it has coordinated with the Monterey County Incident Command — the county system used to respond to emergencies — to inspect the site and determine whether the facility is safe to reopen.
Environmental activist Erin Brockovich and lawyers from Southern California-based law firm Singleton Schreiber will hold a news conference in Moss Landing on Wednesday afternoon to address the firm’s current lawsuit against Vistra and PG&E.
Residents filed the lawsuit against Vistra weeks after the January fire, alleging the company failed to implement adequate safety measures, including proper maintenance, thermal runaway prevention and compliance with updated fire standards.
Wednesday’s news conference will begin at 1 p.m., and be held at 10932 Clam Way, Moss Landing.
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