"The Vistra fire in Moss Landing caught everyone by surprise. What we can learn from it?” —David Schmalz, #MontereyCountyWeekly cover story
"On Feb. 13, 2022, a similar incident occurred at Vistra’s Moss 100 facility, and this time, both #Vistra facilities were taken offline.
"Meanwhile, PG&E’s 182.5-megawatt Elkhorn facility came online in April 2022. Unlike both Vistra facilities, the Elkhorn’s batteries were not in buildings – they were in an array of 256 Tesla Megapacks on 33 concrete slabs.
In the early morning of Sept. 20 of that year, just over five months later, a fire broke out in one of #Tesla Megapacks at the facility, prompting the closure of Highway 1 and a shelter-in-place order for nearby residents. Though the fire only burned for six hours, the orders remained in effect until just before 7pm due to the risk of toxic smoke inhalation.”
