Vistra Energy’s 750 MW (megawatt) / 3,000 MWh (megawatt hour) BESS (battery energy storage system) facility located near San Francisco at Moss Landing caught fire yesterday. Officials say the fire is contained within the BESS facility structure and the best solution is to let the facility burn itself out. About 40% of the building structure has been consumed in the fire, whose cause remains under investigation.
“There are no active fire suppression efforts going on, as the best approach, according to fire staff, is to allow the building and batteries to burn,” according to a Monterey Sheriff official.
Both Vistra and the county official said that all site personnel had been evacuated and no injuries were reported. The fire had also prompted evacuation of places nearby.
You may recall our September 2023 article about completion of the Moss Landing BESS facility, which at the time, was the largest BESS facility in the world. It is co-located on the site of Vistra’s existing natural gas-fueled Moss Landing Power Plant in Monterey County – a site that has provided critical electricity to Californians since 1950.

Photo: Moss Landing Facility
Photo Credit: San Francisco Chronicle