Moss Landing Power Plant Town Hall held one year after fire at battery facility

Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church organized a town hall meeting to address safety concerns at the Moss Landing Power Plant and the battery storage system.

"It's not just environmental, there's health issues... because we have to realize the fire that took place at the PG&E facility. Last fall, a year ago, actually had the CHP shut down Highway 1, there was shelter in place, there was a plume up," Supervisor Church said.

Church tells KION before the meeting, the fire was a key issue in Wednesday night’s discussion.
That fire resulted in smoke containing a toxin being released that was harmful to neighboring areas.
The town hall in Castroville included PG&E, Vistra Energy, and North Fire Protection District, among other agencies.

“In completing that investigation, we identified that the vent shield on the top of the unit had been incorrectly installed. What that resulted in is a notch in the unit actually was located in the wrong location.

So part of the vent shield was put in installed on the roof of the deck, dislocated and created a point of egress for water," Pacific Generation of PG&E Dave Gabbard said at the town hall.

PG&E and Vistra, who operate battery facilities at the Moss Landing Power Plant, say they’ve taken corrective measures in the fire’s aftermath. PG&E said some of their steps include adding an automatic safe discharge feature and alarm updates.

This meeting also allowed people from the area to ask questions about the plant.

The town hall was originally scheduled for last March but was postponed due to the storms and flooding.