As of 2024[update], the site's battery storage facility is the largest in the world, at 930 MW (power) and 3,700 MWh (energy).

The plant's two large 500′ tall stacks are local landmarks, visible throughout the Monterey Bay Area.

[3] It was once the largest power plant in the state of California, with a generation capacity of 2560 MW, before its two large supercritical steam units were retired in 2016.

In 1949, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) began construction on the Moss Landing Power Plant.

[4] As part of the Deregulation of Utilities in California, PG&E sold the plant to Duke Energy (DENA) in 1998.

Starting in 2000, the eight 225-foot (69 m) stacks and 19 fuel oil storage tanks were removed, and two new units were built on the former site.

[5] In 2006, having invested over half a billion dollars in upgraded capacity, efficiency and emission control, Duke Energy sold the plant to LS Power Equity Partners.

[10] In February 2017 Dynegy announced that it may close Moss Landing, due to market conditions resulting from a glut of wholesale electricity capacity in California making it difficult to operate profitably.

[11][clarification needed] By 2018, California had 7,000 MW of surplus generating capacity, but a similar amount (mostly ocean cooled) would be retired by 2021.

[12] The glut in electricity capacity is partially a result of policies which guarantee utilities like PG&E (a regulated monopoly) a return on investment for building new power plants, even when they are not needed.

[13] On April 9, 2018 Vistra Corp merged with Dynegy Inc, and thus also acquired the Moss Landing Power Plant.

[10] The generation process for units 6 and 7 starts with natural gas injected at one end of the boiler to be burned.

[17] The Moss Landing Power Plant site has since been chosen as California's primary location to provide battery based energy storage in order to better utilize renewable energy sources such as solar and wind on a grid-wide commercial scale.

[17] Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) asked the CPUC to approve four energy storage projects located adjacent to the Moss Landing plant, including another large lithium-ion battery storage system of 182.5 MW / 730 MWh ("Elkhorn", located between the old turbine hall and Elkhorn Slough) to be provided by Tesla and owned and operated by PG&E, connecting to the regional 115 kV grid.

[35] The project aimed to save costs by reducing PG&E's reliance on peaker power plants that come online during periods of increased demand.

[37] The report concluded that the project would have a "Less than Significant Impact" on the environment, assuming the correct mitigating actions were taken.

[37] Specifically, it was found that mitigating actions[clarification needed] were required to minimize the environmental impact of the project on "biological resources" such as wildlife habitat, and on "cultural resources", especially culturally-significant archaeological sites at the proposed location of the Megapack deployment.

[38] This same union group, with the same legal representation, used similar arguments against the California Flats solar project in order for organized labor to get concessions from the developer.

[38] In February 2020, the Monterey County Planning Commission unanimously approved the project, which was initially scheduled to start construction in late March[39] and be complete by 2021.

[46] At 3 pm on Thursday, January 16, 2025, a fire broke out in the 300 MW Phase 1 building, the portion of the site managed by Vistra Corp.

Battery systems (made of lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides) ignited in the concrete hall, releasing large flames, reaching the fire's first peak between 8 and 10 pm.

During the two days of the fire wind velocities were low, allowing the smoke plume to rise high into the atmosphere before much dispersion had occurred.

[53] On the evening of January 17, 2025, the fire diminished to a point where Monterey County officials allowed evacuated individuals to return to their homes.