Editing Morro Bay, California (section)

===Power plant===
[[File:Morro Bay Power Plant.jpg|thumb|Power plant, ''circa'' 2016]]

The [[power plant]] has played a large role in Morro Bay, and in providing electricity to the [[Central Coast of California|Central Coast]] and the Central Valley of California (primarily [[Fresno]] and [[Bakersfield]]). It was built by [[Pacific Gas and Electric Company|PG&E]] in the mid-1950s<ref name="NYT 2022-06-17"/><ref name=Trib>{{cite news |first=David |last=Middlecamp |url=https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/photos-from-the-vault/article252188613.html |title=Morro Bay Power Plant has been a landmark since 1950s. Here's the story behind the stacks |newspaper=San Luis Obispo Tribune |date=June 19, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Branson-Potts |first=Hailey |date=August 11, 2022 |title=In a coastal California town, three iconic smokestacks are coming down. A community mourns |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-11/la-me-morro-bay-california-coast-climate-change-energy |access-date=August 11, 2022 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times }}</ref> to a design by architect [[William Gladstone Merchant]], and was expanded in the 1960s.<ref name=Hist>{{cite web |url=https://www.historycenterslo.org/uploads/1/2/5/3/125313011/october_2_2020.pdf |title=Morro Bay Power Plant |website=History Center of San Luis Obispo County |date=October 2, 2020 |access-date=March 29, 2025 }}</ref> A portion of the city's budget came from taxes on the [[natural gas]] the plant burned.<ref name=Trib/> In 1997, PG&E sold the plant to [[Duke Energy]] under a state law requiring energy producers to reduce their assets.<ref name=Trib/> 

The 650-[[megawatt]] plant employed more than 100 workers at its peak and operated around the clock during the energy crisis of 2000, but by the mid-2010s, when it was owned by [[Dynegy]], it had become uneconomical and was operating at 5% of capacity, primarily during periods of peak energy demand. It would have required expensive upgrades by 2015 to conform to state law.<ref name=Trib-closes>{{cite news |first=Nick |last=Wilson |url=https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article39467643.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722134018/http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/02/05/2910352/dynegy-officially-closes-morro.html |archive-date=July 22, 2014 |title=Dynegy officially closes the Morro Bay Power Plant |newspaper=San Luis Obispo Tribune |date=February 5, 2014 }}</ref> Duke had proposed modernizing the plant by converting it to [[combined cycle]] power generation,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/project_pages/OTC/engineering%20study/Chapter_7I_Morro_Bay_Power_Plant.pdf |title=California's Coastal Power Plants: Alternative Cooling System Analysis |chapter=Morro Bay Power Plant |publisher=California Ocean Protection Council |volume=1 |year=2008 |page=1-1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Dean |last=Higuchi |url=https://www.epa.gov/archive/epapages/newsroom_archive/newsreleases/2206c3604c881149852574cf00760d27.html |title=EPA air permit for Morro Bay power plant reduces emissions, protects air quality: Modernization project will also increase power generation |website=United States Environmental Protection Agency |date=September 25, 2008 |type=press release }}</ref> but the modernization was not carried out,<ref name=Trib/><ref>{{cite news |first=Neil |last=Farrell |url=https://esterobaynews.com/featured-stories/city-vistra-settle-lawsuit/ |title=City-Vistra Settle Lawsuit |newspaper=Estero Bay News |date=June 17, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Neil |last=Farrell |url=https://esterobaynews.com/featured-stories/morro-bay-power-plant-a-life-after-people-relic/ |title=Morro Bay Power Plant a 'Life After People' Relic |newspaper=Estero Bay News |date=July 30, 2022 }}</ref> and Dynegy closed the plant in February 2014.<ref name=Trib-closes/><ref name="SFG 2022-05-03">{{Cite news |last=Pridgen |first=Andrew |date=May 3, 2022 |title=Why Morro Bay residents love their dormant smokestacks |url=https://www.sfgate.com/centralcoast/article/Why-Morro-Bay-is-struggling-to-remove-one-of-17141902.php |access-date=May 15, 2022 |work=SFGate }}</ref>

In 2018, a joint venture of German energy company EnBW and Seattle-based Trident Winds announced its plan to obtain the power plant's grid connection to connect a 650 MW floating [[Offshore wind power|offshore wind park]] comprising up to 100 floating wind turbines and a floating substation situated some {{convert|30.|mi}} off the coast.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.offshorewind.biz/2018/06/11/enbw-dives-deep-into-us-offshore-wind/|title=EnBW Dives Deep Into US Offshore Wind|date=June 11, 2018|website=Offshore Wind|access-date=April 26, 2019}}</ref> In 2022, [[TotalEnergies]], a French energy company, entered the joint venture with Trident Winds and took over the shares previously held by EnBW.<ref>{{Cite press release |date=2022-03-18 |title=TotalEnergies Enters Castle Wind JV to Explore 1GW Development of Offshore Wind in Central California |url=https://corporate.totalenergies.us/news/totalenergies-enters-castle-wind-jv-explore-1gw-development-offshore-wind-central-california |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=TotalEnergies in the U.S. }}</ref>

In 2021, the city council of Morro Bay voted 4–1 to take down the power plant's smokestacks by 2028.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=Angel |date=November 1, 2021 |title=The Morro Bay smokestacks are coming down. Here's how that could impact the city |work=KCBX |url=https://www.kcbx.org/kcbx-stories/2021-11-01/the-morro-bay-smokestacks-are-coming-down-heres-how-that-could-impact-the-city |access-date=June 18, 2022}}</ref> The city estimated that maintaining the smoke stacks would cost around a million dollars per year. [[Vistra Corp|Vistra Energy]], which had purchased Dynegy, agreed to tear down the stacks and plans to build a {{val|600|u=MW}} [[lithium-ion battery]] installation.<ref name="NYT 2022-06-17">{{Cite news |last=Karlamangla |first=Soumya |date=June 17, 2022 |title=The Iconic Morro Bay Smokestacks Are Coming Down |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/17/us/morro-bay-smokestacks.html |access-date=June 18, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bertola |first=Alexa |date=February 18, 2021 |title=World's largest energy storage system proposed in Morro Bay |work=KSBY |url=https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/worlds-largest-energy-storage-system-proposed-in-morro-bay |access-date=June 18, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Kaytlyn |last=Leslie |url=https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/environment/article250313134.html |title=World's largest battery storage plant could be built in Morro Bay. Here are 5 things to know |newspaper=San Luis Obispo Tribune |date=April 6, 2021 |access-date=March 29, 2025 }}</ref>
[[File:Morro Bay Harbor Department - September 2023 - Sarah Stierch.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of a white pickup truck with "Harbor Patrol" written on the side in yellow letters.|Morro Bay Harbor Patrol vehicle in 2023.]]