The California Public Utilities Commission on March 13 voted to approve stricter safety standards on battery storage following a series of incidents at battery facilities.
CPUC passed the new standards as an update to General Order 167, which became effective in 2005 and sets safety standards for electric generating facilities. The five-member commission voted unanimously to approve the update.
The update provides “a method to implement and enforce maintenance and operation standards for electric generating facilities, in order to add new safety standards for the maintenance and operation of battery energy storage systems,” according to a news release.
Additionally, the update requires battery storage facility owners to develop emergency plans in coordination with local authorities. It also imposes new technical logbook standards for battery storage systems, among other requirements. (See Calif. Officials Propose New Safety Measures for Battery Storage.)
Commissioner John Reynolds said the resolution comes as battery storage grows rapidly in California. Battery storage capacity in the state grew from 500 MW in 2019 to over 13,000 MW in 2024, he noted.
But the expansion of battery storage has caused safety concerns. The commissioners brought up the Jan. 16 fire at Vistra’s 300-MW energy storage facility at Moss Landing in Monterey County. The lithium-ion facility is one of the world’s largest battery energy storage systems.
The fire, which prompted the evacuations of 1,200 people, is under investigation. Staff from CPUC’s Safety and Enforcement Division visited the site Jan. 22 as part of its probe.
CPUC has previously listed nine other safety incidents at facilities since 2021, including four in 2024. In one incident in September 2024, a fire at a San Diego Gas & Electric facility in Escondido prompted evacuations.
Evacuations also were ordered in May 2024 during a fire at REV Renewables’ Gateway Energy Storage facility in Otay Mesa.
“The broad effect of updating this general order is to extend existing safety standards for generation assets to grid scale energy storage systems, including grid scale batteries, this update will support the CPUC role in advancing battery safety and will help to keep Californians safe,” Reynolds said.
CPUC also noted the importance of storage in California’s transition from fossil fuels.
“Battery storage systems are one of the key technologies California relies on to enhance reliability and reduce dependency on polluting fossil fuel plants,” the news release stated.
