California committee recommends opposing future indoor battery storage facilities

Feb 27, 2025

The Moss Landing Ad Hoc committee, led by Supervisor Glenn Church and Supervisor Kate Daniels, shared five key recommendations regarding the Moss Landing Battery Plant Fire.

The Ad Hoc Committee makes the following recommendations:

Their main stance, suggests the county opposes any future indoor battery facilities.

"Putting 100 thousand modules of batteries inside a building is not a good idea," Monterey County Supervisor Kate Daniels said.

Supervisor Church says the issue lies in how much authority the county has.

As of now, even with strict restrictions, battery facilities can bypass the county, go to the state, and get a streamlined state permit in 270 days.

The county hopes to have a better idea in the coming months.

"For example, AB 303, which is Don Assemblymember Don Addison's bill, has now been going before the state legislature, and that is to make sure that there's local control involved [...] that bill and seeing the fate of that is going to really depend to a great degree on what we can do," Church said.

The county hopes for legislative changes in the coming months.

On Tuesday, a motion was passed to hold monthly meetings with the public and provide updates until the cleanup is finished.

A resident and co-founder of the Moss Landing Never Again Group expressed satisfaction with the county's efforts and hopes Bill AB 303 passes.

"I think it's a really important first start," said Brian Roeder, co-founder of Never Again Moss Landing. "It's not a perfect solution, but if this doesn't pass, where are we? Right? We need to get started on some solutions to the fact that this massive plant just burned and created a huge toxic problem for our community."

Community members are hosting a second town hall meeting with local leaders on Monday, March 3 to discuss the current impacts of the battery plant fire at the Oldemeyer Center, Seaside Room, 986 Hillby Ave, Seaside.

They will also go before the Coastal Commission on Tuesday, March 12 in Santa Cruz.

Efforts to reach Vistra and PG&E for comments have not yet been successful.

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