Fire in a "battery facility" in California leaves some *very* interesting questions

In January a fire started at a "battery facility" in Moss Landing, Monterey county, California.  A nearby TV station reported it like this: 

A major fire at one of the world's largest battery storage plants in Northern California is sending up flames of toxic smoke.  The fire chief said his crews are "not engaging with the fire" but are waiting for it to burn out.

A "battery storage plant," y'say?  Is that like a warehouse for batteries, say for Walmart or Costco?  And what kind of "batteries"?  Like the ones in your regular car?  I didn't know those would even burn.
 Hmmm...is it possible that a few key pieces of this story are missing?   Next paragraph:

        The Moss Landing Power Plant...

 Wait...at the top of the story they said this was a "battery storage plant."  How did it become a "powerplant"?  Ahh, here ya go:

...contains tens of thousands of lithium batteries. The batteries are important for storing electricity from such renewable energy sources as solar energy, but if they go up in flames the blazes can be extremely difficult to put out.

"...can be extremely difficult to put out," y'say.  Oh that's right, those are the batteries used in those faaabulous EVs.

One resident said "It doesn't appear that the fire department had the appropriate fire retardants to minimize this fire, so they and had to just let it burn."

And here's the last 'graf, and the topper:

There were fires at this plant in both 2021 and 2022, caused by a fire sprinkler system malfunction that resulted in some units overheating.

Ahh, "caused by a fire sprinkler system malfunction that resulted in some units overheating," y'say?  What kinds of "units"?  

The use of "malfunction" after "sprinkler system" suggests that the sprinkler systems are overheating.  That seems really unlikely: sprinkler systems are normally passive--a small piece of metal with a low melting point holds a water valve closed unless a fire melts the metal.  No electricity needed.  

So the "units" that were allegedly "overheating" almost certainly were NOT sprinkler systems.  So what were they?  Here's the REAL story:  The facility that burned doesn't "store" batteries.  They call it "storage" cuz it stores...electricity, in tens of thousands of lithium batteries--the kind that power electric cars--all because the woke Democrats who run California government DEMANDED that the state stop using carbon-based fuels, including clean natural gas.

And what did they replace that scrapped electrical-generating capacity with, eh?  Nuclear, right?  Cuz no carbon emissions!

Hahahaha!  No, the wokiez refuse to allow that, and in fact the Dems who run the state have ORDERED perfectly good nuclear powerplants closed, cuz nuclear is baaaad!

Okay, they probably replaced the scrapped gas generation with...hydroelectric.  Cuz no carbon emissions, right?

Hahahahaha!  No.  In fact after state voters voted in 2010 to approve billions of dollars to build *more* reservoirs, which could produce electricity, totalitarian Democrat governor Gavin Newsom refused to do that, and instead *destroyed* four dams, emptying their reservoirs.

"Yeah, dat's duh ticket!  Cuz hydro baaaad!"

See, dat Newsom guy iz smaaaht!  He know he need duh Left to gibs him millions to launch hiz presidential run, right?  An' destroying the four dams was a BIG goal of duh Left, cuz Native American tribes and sacred salmon.  See?

So...if duh great, smaaaaht Democrats scrap all duh gas-fired electric generation, how dey gon' get duh electric dey needs fo' all dem EVs, eh?

An' finally we find duh explanation fo' duh mystery at the top:  Dey replaced duh electric dat came from natural gas wif... "renewables"--so-called "green energy."  Wind and solar.  

But dere's a tiny problem wif dat plan: sun don't shine at night, AND wind doesn't always blow.

Wait...dat not a problem, is it?

Ahhh!  Solution!  We'll just store duh electricity produced by duh wind an' solar?  Yay!

So how dey gon' do dat, eh?  Easy: use some lithium batteries... Wait, define "some."  

"Some" is tens of thousands--duh same kind used in those faaabulous, non-polluting EVs!  But way bigger.  Ten-thousand should sto' all duh 'lectric anyone could need, eh?

Now that's the kind of idea that could only some from a state "lawmaker, eh?  Some REALLY high-powered thinking!

If you or I proposed putting tens of thousands of lithium batteries in a single place for ANY reason, how many years do ya think would it take to get the required "environmental impact statement" approved by duh state, eh?  But in this case I'm gonna guess it sailed right thru California's environmental poobahs in a matter of days!  Cuz...reasons.

Like magic, eh?

Let's search for "EIS vistra battery plant, Moss Landing, CA", shall we?  (EIS is "environmental impact statement.")

And here's the corporate press release parroted by a local TV station: 

Batteries such as those stored at Moss Landing make the grid more stable

There's that soothing, innocuous word "stored" again--jus sittin' there, like a WalMart warehouse, eh?  An' WalMart warehouses don't have to have an EIS, right?  So how do "stored" batteries "make the grid more stable"? 

What the reporter means is "an effort to compensate for the the gas-generated electricity your Democrat rulers scrapped."  So I guess "makes the grid more stable" is close enough for the Media, eh?

Experts say lithium batteries are a safe technology *essential for lowering carbon emissions* and making grids more reliable.

Ahh, there are those "experts."  This week only, half off the regular price!

Now here's the hoot: As everyone should know by now, lithium fires are really hard to put out.  In fact water not only doesn't help, the lithium reacts with water to make hydrogen, which makes the fire worse.

Ahh.  Say, would anyone like to bet that the "fire suppression system" in the "storage" facility used...wait for it...water?

Of course it used water.  So who was the moron in the state gruberment who, evaluating an "environmental impact statement" for a huge "powerplant" using lithium batteries, overlooked the obvious fact that a water fire suppression system wouldn't help a bit, and would actually make the fire worse, eh?

As the state's "environmental experts" were analyzing every aspect of the construction plan for the EIS, how many people never realized a water sprinkler system would make a lithium fire worse instead of better, eh?

Source: local ABC TV

https://abc11.com/post/moss-landing-california-fire-vistra-energy-power-plant-houses-lithium-batteries-causing-evacuations-monterey-county/15810772/