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If local residents were previously unaware of the dangers posed by Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), their eyes were no doubt opened by the massive January 2025 fire at the Vistra energy storage facility inside the Moss Landing Power Plant.
As detailed in a BenitoLink Más allá de la rejilla report, the 300-megawatt facility was destroyed when an uncontrollable, self-sustaining chain reaction started a fire, which released smoke and pollutants into Monterey, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and San Benito counties.
On May 7, Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) introduced the Better Energy Storage and Safety Act (HR 8706), which seeks to expand the federal government’s role in researching, regulating and enhancing BESS technology for the safety of the nation’s energy grid.
In a statement to BenitoLink, Panetta wrote, “The fire at Vistra’s Moss Landing facility, one of the world’s largest battery energy storage systems, was an important reminder that our transition to a clean energy future must be paired with safe and secure technology.”
The bipartisan nature of Panetta’s bill is evidenced by the co-sponsorship of Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC), who told BenitoLink that the safety issues of BESS facilities “isn’t a hypothetical concern” for his state.
“North Carolina has become one of the fastest-growing markets for energy investment in the country,” Harrigan said. “We owe it to the families living near these facilities to make sure the technology is being rigorously tested before it’s deployed, not after something goes wrong.”
The BESS Act follows behind two significant bills that address battery storage. The first, the Better Energy Storage Technology Act, was introduced by Bill Foster (D-IL) in May 2019 and was passed in 2020.
Amending the United States Energy Storage Competitiveness Act of 2007 to account for grid-scale systems, it tasked the secretary of energy with, among other things, developing storage facilities with up to a 100-hour capacity; assessing the aging and degradation of energy storage units; developing battery recycling programs; and mitigating fire risk.
Panetta’s BESS Act modifies another bill passed in 2020, the omnibus Ley de Energía, which tackles issues like carbon management, advanced nuclear power, supply chain issues for critical minerals and the updating of federal building energy efficiency standards.
HR 4447, the original version of the bill which failed in the House, proposed funding $208 billion in research and development of clean energy. This was stripped down to $35 billion by removing what the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology referred to as a “Green New Deal wish list.”
Tucked away in the 533-page Energy Act is Section 3201, which the BESS Act seeks to modify and which the committee summarized as: establishing a research program to advance energy storage technologies, ordering three demonstration projects, creating a competitive pilot project grant program and establishing a recycling and reuse program.
According to Panetta’s statement to BenitoLink, dedicated federal research into battery failures, early detection methods and preventive safety measures has not kept pace with the rapid development and deployment of this technology.
“As we continue to move towards renewable energy, we must ensure that the corresponding and critical technology is safe and secure,” Panetta said. “My bill would allow necessary improvements for the research, development, and testing of critical battery storage and clean energy systems.”
The BESS Act specifically adds to or modifies the following parts of Section 3201:
Parte A: modifies the definition of an energy storage system to include all of its components and modules, which broadens what the Department of Energy regulates.
Parte B: adds safety objectives, including abating thermal runaway as well as fire and explosion risks. It mandates coordination with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Fire Administration and shifts the focus to “stress testing to failure.” It prioritizes improving the safety and life of systems and requires the creation of a 10-year plan for emerging energy technologies and identifying barriers to their adoption.
Parte C: increases the number of energy storage demonstration projects (real-time testing of a given system) from three to five, with at least two of the projects specifically focused on safety and stress testing to failure. It also expands research into the “electric vehicle battery second-life project,” which allows the batteries to be repurposed into grid storage or home use.
Parte D: mandates the development of safety features to prevent long-duration technology failure and requires the integrated storage used for BESS projects be stress-tested to failure.
Part H: adds new funding of $30,000,000 annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 specifically for the safety-related programs and initiatives added in these proposed changes to the Energy Act.
These modifications reflect Panetta’s concern that the previous legislation on BESS facilities is inadequate, allowing, for example, the use of outdated standards at the Vistra array at Moss Landing.
Panetta wrote, “It’s better to learn from research, development, and demonstration activities than to learn from mistakes.”
California legislators have expressed concern over BESS safety measures, unanimously passing two bills in October 2025: AB 1285, introduced by the Assembly Committee on Emergency Management, and SB 283 (the “Clean Energy Safety Act of 2025”), introduced by state Senator John Laird.
Together, the two bills require, that BESS projects comply with the National Fire Protection Association standard (855) and mandate that new facilities be located outdoors or in noncombustible, dedicated-use buildings
According to Panetta, with battery storage now the second-largest source of new U.S. grid capacity (ranking just behind solar power), it has become a vital resource in efforts to lower energy costs, strengthen grid reliability and support new homes and businesses as they come online.
“The fire at Moss Landing, which was one of the world’s largest battery energy storage systems, was an important reminder that our transition to a clean energy future must be paired with safe and secure technology,” he wrote.
Saying this is “exactly the kind of issue that should never be partisan,” Harrigan told BenitoLink that the bill addresses his concern that first responders, in particular, need standardized protocols and guidance for how to safely respond to fires at BESS facilities, which doesn’t currently exist at the federal level.
“Right now,” Harrigan said, “it puts our National Labs, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the U.S. Fire Administration to work solving these problems, before safety failures become a bigger story than the technology’s success.”
The Better Energy Storage and Safety Act (H.R. 8706) has been referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology as it progresses to a vote.
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