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and the Lineman
Pittsburgh Member at Heart of Infrastructure Rollout

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Explaining the 2021
Power Crisis

North of 49°
Federal Funding Enhances Training, Opens Doors to More Members

Au nord du 49° parallèle
Le financement fédéral améliore les formations permettant de donner accès à plus de membres

The Origins of May Day

Stanley Stade

World's Largest Grid-Storage Project Comes Online in California

The twin smokestacks of Moss Landing power station have been a landmark on the Monterey Bay coast for more than 50 years. They tower over the bright green fields of artichokes and are visible from Santa Cruz to Monterey.

But members of Castroville, Calif., Local 234 recently transformed those towers into a global landmark, turning an outdated oil-burning power station into a cutting-edge step toward solving the North American power grid's biggest problem.

Over the last year, more than 135 Local 234 members filled the cavernous hall of the decommissioned power station with enough batteries to power nearly a quarter million houses for up to four hours.

At 400 megawatts, Moss Landing became the largest grid-scale storage facility in the world when it was commissioned by PG&E in December. It far outstrips the previous record holder, the 250 MW Gateway Energy Storage facility that was built by members of San Diego Local 569 and came online last year.

For scale, in 2018, just 311 MW of grid-scale lithium-ion battery storage was brought online in total.

"It is a sight to see for sure," Local 234 Business Manager Lamont Adams said of Moss Landing's sea of battery racks.

For this first phase, Adams said, workers cleared the original powerhouse to hold nearly 100,000 batteries, 22 in each rack, wired in series with safety modules between each rack. The installation's weight overwhelmed the floor, which was designed to hold turbines, so the structure had to be reinforced and rebuilt to hold 12,000 tons.

"Those DC batteries are no joke. They are heavy, and DC power can be very dangerous if you don't know what you are doing," he said.

The Moss Landing project has the potential to keep growing and providing more jobs in the future. The plant's owner, Vistra Energy, said the location could expand battery capacity up to 1,600 MW/6,000 MWh, a boon to the small local which primarily serves the agricultural communities of the Central Coast.

The higher wages and never-ending walkthroughs at San Jose Local 332 and San Francisco Local 6 are a constant pull for Local 234 members, Adams said. Having a reliable, high-scale job close by has made the choice to stay home a lot easier.

Stephenson:
A Lifetime of Work
Cooper:
On Brotherhood

Glenda G. Thomason;
Keenan Eagen;
Rick Hite;
John Lei;
David E. Moran;
Pasquale Gino;
Ted Robison;
Carmella Thomas

Walsh Sworn in at DOL;
Pro-Union Deputy Awaits Senate Vote;
2020 BLS Data Demonstrates the Difference a Union Makes

Canadian Air Safety in a Flat Spin, Needs a Rescue;
IBEW Steps in to Rescue Ohio Solar Project

New York's HERO Act Aims to Protect Workers From COVID-19

Remembering an
Old Friend

March 2021

How One Local 48 Member
is Creating a Chorus
of Allies