A large battery storage project planned along the California coast is in limbo after the Texas-based developer Vistra pulled its application with the local government.
After five years and pushback from Morro Bay city officials, Vistra may turn to an expedited state permitting process. Permits for energy storage projects in California have become a flashpoint as local residents express more safety and land use concerns.
Vistra had planned to repurpose part of a decommissioned power plant site outside of Morro Bay, a city 12 miles north of San Luis Obispo, to house a 600-megawatt battery storage project, enough to power 450,000 homes. That would make it one of the nation’s largest battery storage sites.
In a letter to Morro Bay city officials this month, Vistra wrote that after procedural discussions with the city, “it was mutually agreed that withdrawing the 2020 application was appropriate.” The letter, signed by Claudia Morrow, Vistra senior vice president of development, did not indicate the developer’s plans for the project, saying only that “when there is more to share about our redevelopment plans … we will inform you and the community.”
