It’s been more than two months since the Jan. 16 Moss Landing battery fires and we strongly doubt that residents in the surrounding areas are feeling the crisis is over.

The cleanup is a complicated process likely to take more than a year as some batteries remain inaccessible near debris in a damaged building at the facility.

More flareups, such as the one that occurred Feb. 18, are likely as work continues. In the meantime, Monterey County is continuing sampling air, water and soil through a multi-agency strategy and including Santa Cruz County’s surface water and agricultural sampling.

San Jose State University researchers earlier announced the discovery of “unusually high concentrations of heavy-metal nanoparticles” in marsh soils close to the Vistra plant, while Monterey County officials say there is no health risk to the public as the cleanup continues.

A major issue continues to be just where battery plants should be located and how to make them safe. Prior to Moss Landing, large battery storage plants were being planned and built across the state as part of Californian’s plans to expand renewable energy by storing electricity that solar farms and wind turbines generate to use later when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.

Last week, for instance, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he has “cut the red tape” to speed up work on a Fresno County solar and battery storage project, to avoid legal challenges that could cause long delays.

But after the disastrous Jan. 16 fire, Assemblymember Dawn Addis, whose district includes Moss Landing, introduced a bill in the state Legislature that would ban new battery storage plants within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, businesses and hospitals. Under her bill, AB 303, new storage facilities also would be prohibited in the state’s coastal zone, on earthquake faults, prime farmland, wetlands, hazardous waste sites and in high fire hazard areas. The bill has not yet received a hearing.

Vistra, meanwhile, is seeking to build a battery-energy storage facility in Morro Bay, which just happens to be where Addis lives. The company could get state approval through AB 205, allowing it to side-step local authority. Addis has said she wants Vistra to withdraw its proposal for the plant; her bill would effectively give local governments the authority to turn down, or approve, battery facilities.

Renewable energy proponents contend that the Moss Landing plant is an outlier, built in 2019 when battery technology was in its infancy, constructed in the concrete warehouse that housed a former PG&E oil and gas-burning power plant. The lithium-ion batteries were stacked and made of older chemistry, which can cause runaway fires when ignited. Newer plants use lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, which are less prone to fires and the battery units are housed in individual metal containers, so if a fire starts, the chances of it spreading are very low.

Santa Cruz County also has been in the early stages of looking at a proposal for a battery facility on Minto Road, outside the Watsonville city limits. Watsonville City Manager Tamara Vides told the Sentinel Editorial Board this month that while the Minto site is not within her city, residents’ concern about the potential battery installation remains high. She said the city will have a voice in the ultimate decision about the facility, a decision that could be years off.

We also now know that no safety plan was submitted by Vistra for a large-scale lithium-ion fire like the one Moss Landing experienced — nor was there a law or regulation that required the company to do so with local officials.

We’re encouraged, though, that Addis is not backing away from the safety and siting fight, while understanding California remains committed to moving away from fossil fuels. But, climate solutions shouldn’t cause more harm than they prevent. Safety has to come first.

Monterey County is condensing new information and updates onto the Ready Monterey County website at readymontereycounty.org/emergency/2025-moss-landing-vistra-power-plant-fire.

— Santa Cruz Sentinel