Despite opposition, power plant gets OK to restart after explosion

HAYWARD >> Citing the need for energy during anticipated heat waves, the state will allow the

Russell City Energy Center to restart, despite opposition from Hayward officials and residents, who said they feared for public safety after an explosion and fire rocked the power plant.

The blast at 3862 Depot Road on May 27 was so powerful it sent a 15-pound metal chunk through the roof of an unoccupied trailer at a transitional housing center for homeless people, some 1,200 feet away from the power plant.

Another piece of metal weighing 51 pounds landed at the city’s Water Pollution Control Facility at 3700 Enterprise Ave.

The Russell City center, which is operated by Calpine Corp. of Houston, has been closed since then. On Thursday, the California Energy Commission unanimously approved a request from Calpine to resume operations, though at roughly half its energygenerating capacity.

Commissioners said the center needed to get back up and running because anticipated heat waves will strain the electrical grid.

The drought also has reduced the amount of power that hydroelectric plants can generate, commission Chair David Hochschild said.

“We are under a period of enormous stress under the grid,” he said.

The plant helps power the Peninsula and parts of western Alameda County; it is capable of producing enough energy to supply 600,000 households, according to Calpine’s website.

Hayward Mayor Barbara Halliday, City Manager Kelly McAdoo and Hayward Fire Chief Garrett Contreras said the facility should remain closed until the cause of the explosion and fire is determined.

They also asked for a full assessment and public review of the safety risks and potential environmental and health impacts of the plant to be completed before it again was generating energy.

“Frankly, we are astonished and appalled by this recommendation (to restart),” Halliday said, adding that the move could put Hayward residents at risk.

McAdoo accused Calpine of not being transparent about conditions at the plant and noted that a June 2019 audit by the California Public Utilities Commission identified 14 safety problems, including corrosive pipes, oil leaks at a steam turbine — the same one that exploded — and improper storage of equipment.

The report never was shared with Hayward officials, who learned about it only after the blast, which happened just before midnight and led to evacuations in a 1-mile area.

“Had this explosion occurred at another time of day, there likely would have been injury or even death,” McAdoo said.

Calpine’s Russell City Energy Center, which began operating in August 2013, generally is used to deliver power during peak periods of energy demand, primarily in the summer months.

The report from June 2019 recommended that emergency drills be carried out annually with outside agencies, such as the Hayward Fire Department. The city was not told about the recommendation, McAdoo said. No such drills have taken place.

Calpine plans to bypass the blown turbine and to generate power through the center’s two natural gas turbines. Geoff Lesh, an engineer with the commission, said he believes the action will cause minimal public risk.

The work should be completed by the end of August, Calpine’s Barbara McBride told commissioners.

“We do not know what the root cause of the steam turbine (explosion) was,” she said.

Calpine has brought in an outside investigator to find out what happened. The commission is also carrying out its own investigation of the explosion.

First responders dispatched to the scene feared that 45 hydrogen tubes near where the explosion happened could cause a second blast. Every Hayward firefighter on duty was sent to the explosion site, and firefighters from Oakland and Alameda County provided mutual aid.

“What happened out there was unacceptable,” resident Karen Douglas told commissioners Thursday about the blast, which ignited a fire fueled by lubrication oil.

Walt Fujii, whose family has lived in Hayward since 1918, said he accepted the need to generate electricity. “But at what cost?” Fujii asked, adding safety should not be compromised.

Forty-five people emailed the commission before the meeting. Just two supported the restart, citing the need to provide energy. Commissioners discussed the center’s future for about six hours.

Along with allowing Russell City to reopen, commissioners said they wanted regular updates on the center and will have staff members facilitate cooperation between Calpine and Hayward firefighters. They also said the power plant needs to be more open about allowing safety inspections.