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ARTICLE · 04 FEBRUARY 2025

Understanding AB 303: Potential Impacts For California BESS Project Development

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A week after a large-scale fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant in Monterey County, California Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 303.

United StatesEnergy and Natural Resources
Chris A. Kolosov
Chris A. Kolosov
Whitney Hodges
Whitney Hodges
Brooke Miller
Brooke Miller
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A week after a large-scale fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant in Monterey County,1 California Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 303. If passed, AB 303 – also referred to as the Battery Energy Safety & Accountability Act – will impact the development of large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in California. Intended to "improve safety standards and restore local oversight for BESS facilities in California,"2 AB 303 will, among other things, limit approval authority to local governmental agencies, require local engagement in the permitting process, and establish mandatory buffer zones between BESS projects and "sensitive receptors."

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