Four months after a massive fire ignited in Monterey County at one of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage facilities, Pacific Gas & Electric said it intends to reactivate an adjacent battery site by June to meet summer energy demands.
The plan comes over the objections of county officials who requested that both facilities remain offline until the cause of the January fire in rural Moss Landing is determined.
“I had hoped that PG&E would take a more transparent and collaborative approach in addressing the concerns of our surrounding communities, which are still grappling with the fallout of the largest BESS [battery energy storage system] fire in history,” Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church wrote on Facebook on May 8.
“Restarting operations before investigations are complete and before stronger emergency protocols are in place is disappointing and deeply troubling,” he said.
The PG&E facility is one of two…
