State Sen. John Laird, in his “Energy questions” opinion in the Feb. 6 issue, tried to “mansplain” the energy conundrum we are facing. In a gross oversimplification, he implied that because of climate change, we must choose a volatile energy storage solution and risk another catastrophic battery energy storage system (BESS) event similar to the Moss Landing fire.
California citizens are one BESS disaster past our patience. We will no longer accept weak legislation like SB 38. (Neither Vistra nor PG&E complied with the safety plans? Is this a surprise? Our legislators took their eyes off the ball.) SB 38 was not a solution. It was a patch on an industry that needs major surgery. We lost faith in the Sierra Club and Surfrider Foundation long ago. Our trust in our elected representatives and the Public Utilities Commission is in a death spiral. We are furious! We will not be soothed by simple palliatives spouted after each disaster: We’re investigating the cause, we’re adding new security and safety measures, we’ve learned from this event, our experts have not detected a risk, we’re going to “redouble our effort,” and reassurances that “it will never happen again.” The public has been misled by corporate promises and government apologists, and now they have gone one step too far.
After all of the BESS failures in California and around the world, what have we learned from the Moss Landing tragedy that we didn’t already know?
Lithium-ion batteries are dangerous.
Lithium-ion batteries get more dangerous as they age.
You cannot put out a lithium-ion battery fire. They must burn themselves out.
Lithium-ion fires release toxic gases and heavy metals into the air, the soil, our water, and the lungs of living beings.
New battery technology, however defined, has not been tested by time and cannot be assumed to be safe.
While we gain more knowledge after each BESS tragedy, humans, wildlife and the environment are victims of the “learning process.” Is a disaster larger than Moss Landing looming on the horizon? Statistically, the answer is yes.
It will take years to synthesize all the information we are gaining from the Moss Landing disaster and form new guidelines and ordinances to protect the health and safety of our communities and the environment. In the meantime, we must not permit these “time bombs” near populated or environmentally sensitive areas. New standards must be set to govern the BESS facilities already operating. Older facilities must be decommissioned. There can be no compromise between our safety and BESS risk.
The demand for electricity will only increase due to our insatiable appetite for digital information and super-sized technology (like AI), and by the push to reduce emissions by replacing our fossil-fueled vehicles and appliances with those that operate with renewable energy. (Hello! We rarely hear a call for conservation of resources.) Climate advocates are in favor of renewables and green energy. Fine! But the pressure to get to carbon net-zero by 2045, no matter what it takes, has resulted in a chaotic and random collection of proposals to fill the gaps, while “green energy” developers clamor for any subsidy, grant, or tax break available. PG&E and Vistra are making plenty of money. They don’t have to be “wooed” to create and store energy that we are being forced to buy.
Mr. Laird seems to insist that BESS facilities are the answer to the climate crisis. It’s not that simple. You can’t equate a BESS disaster at Moss Landing with the fires in LA which were, arguably, caused by climate change. You can’t play with fire in one camp to prevent it in another. You can’t put BESS projects where people and fragile environments might be harmed. Period!
If our goal is to provide reliable and affordable electricity to an increasingly demanding public, then energy storage is integral to the solution. This is an undeniable fact. California already produces more electricity than we use. At present, lithium-ion battery storage is a cost-effective and powerful tool, and until a better and safer BESS technology is developed and time-tested, we’ll be stuck with it. The battery energy storage solution in the immediate future, unfortunately, is lithium-ion BESS technology.
While we’re fighting against the industry and imploring our legislators for sensible solutions for siting and regulating BESS facilities, we could instead be building them where they are safe, logical, economical, and welcome. Until everyone is satisfied with the safety, profitability, and sustainability of green energy, the climate crisis will continue while we are at war with each other over every new proposal.
Do we have a conundrum? I don’t think so. If we can find a place to dump hazardous waste near Highway 46, we can find suitable sites for BESS facilities. There are miles of remote and desolate areas in California. “Solar-plus-storage” projects are being developed on federal land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management. BLM controls hundreds of thousands of acres that are suitable for BESS and other storage technologies, to which the public would probably agree. This is a crisis of determination, not a lack of possibilities.
As Moss Landing has shown, one major BESS catastrophe can affect many square miles and several cities or counties. Airborne toxins don’t know boundaries. Once the soil testing samples gathered around the Moss Landing fire are analyzed, and the data regarding negative consequences in Monterey County is assessed, we’ll know the range and extent of the damage. Statewide siting standards and reasonable development goals will ultimately need to be set. In the meantime, cities and counties need to protect their populations by passing temporary moratoriums like Morro Bay did. Dawn Addis’ Assembly Bill 303 must be passed so that individual jurisdictions can set their own standards immediately. We all need to write our representatives, starting with Gov. Gavin Newsom, to say that “enough is enough!”
Ultimately, we should be building a macro grid, placing energy storage near the source of energy production, limiting profit, and considering a centralized government-run energy system and administration. But that’s a battle for another day.
To our friends in Moss Landing: Sen. Laird has implied that you have already been forgotten. He also seems to believe it’s still possible that a BESS could be permitted in Morro Bay. Believe me, as we fight for our lives, we fight for yours. You have not been forgotten. Your new county supervisor, Glenn Church, said that the Vistra BESS fire was a “Three-Mile Island” level event for the BESS industry. He was correct. And now you have the power of famed attorneys advocating for you. We wish you the very best for a complete recovery. Δ
Gail Johnson writes to New Times from Morro Bay. Send comments for publication by emailing them to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Health & Wellness 2025.
Thank you for your work. Community and University soil testing shows high levels of metals near the plant fire and surrounding areas yet the Health Department says all is well. Thanks for getting the word out.