Vistra Hosting Community Meetings to Inform and Gather Community Input on Proposed Energy Storage Center in Morro Bay

Vistra Hosting Community Meetings to Inform and Gather Community Input on Proposed Energy Storage Center in Morro Bay

Vistra Hosting Community Meetings to Engage & Listen to Residents

Vistra is hosting a series of community meetings to engage with and listen to residents regarding the company’s proposed energy storage center at the site of the retired Morro Bay Power Plant following the City of Morro Bay’s publication of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on March 11, 2024.

The Morro Bay Power Plant has sat idle since 2014, and Vistra acquired the site in 2018. The City’s publishing of the draft EIR is the latest step in the local consideration of the company’s proposed project which is part of a larger plan to move the plant site and community forward. Deploying proven, zero-emission energy technologies on a portion of the former plant site will enhance the stability of the state’s grid by adding a reliable, dispatchable electricity resource to provide power to the regional and state grid when it is needed most.

“Vistra is a national leader in the responsible retirement, remediation, and redevelopment of legacy power plant sites because we believe each property is unique and requires a deliberate and thoughtful approach,” said Claudia Morrow, senior vice president of development for Vistra. “Our proposed plan puts ratepayers and residents of Morro Bay first by utilizing preexisting interconnection infrastructure, while allowing for the eventual master planning and redevelopment of the remaining property to improve the Embarcadero area and allow for increased public access for the benefit of future generations.”

For decades, the Morro Bay plant site and the broader San Luis Obispo region have been home to critical generation and interconnection points for the state’s energy grid. In addition to generation assets, several high-capacity transmission lines, switchyards, and substations operate in the area. Energy storage assets must be built and operated at critical points along the grid. The preexisting regional utility infrastructure that ratepayers paid to develop and maintain over decades makes the Morro Bay plant site ideal to help solve the region’s energy security challenges.

State leaders responsible for maintaining the reliability of California’s electric grid are focused on increasing the capacity of energy that can be stored. Typically, California produces excess electricity during daytime hours, which can be stored by facilities like the proposed project at the retired Morro Bay power plant site. The stored power can then be released to the grid later, during peak demand hours.

The proposed Morro Bay energy storage center is a needed regional resource based on preexisting usage and generation patterns. It is independent of any other power generation project under consideration in the region.

“While our company manages the nation’s second-largest fleet of energy storage facilities, we recognize that the operations are new to the residents of Morro Bay and look forward to continuing our dialogue in the weeks and months ahead,” said Morrow. “For more than 140 years, our company has been adapting to technological changes in our industry to honor our commitment to provide residents and businesses with reliable access to electricity so that modern society can function.”

Vistra is holding public meetings in the community to provide forums for residents to hear from and ask questions of company representatives.

Residents can submit questions to be asked at the next meeting using our online question submission tool.

Next Community Meeting

Date to be announced soon.

All meetings will be held at:
Del Mar Elementary School Auditorium
501 Sequoia Street, Morro Bay, CA 93442

Vistra is holding public meetings in the community to provide forums for residents to hear from and ask questions of company executives and other experts.

The meetings will be live-streamed and archived on SLO-SPAN. View the replay of the March 20 meeting here.

Key Documents

City of Morro Bay Draft EIR

The City of Morro Bay is accepting written comments on the Draft EIR. Click the link above for more information.

 

 

 

 

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