Napa Valley town that once rode out emergencies with diesel gets a clean-power backup

CALISTOGA, Calif. (AP) — For residents of this quaint tourist town on the northern edge of Napa Valley, the threat of wildfire is seldom out of mind. The hillside bears burn scars from a 2020 fire that forced all of Calistoga to evacuate, and the 2017 Tubbs fire that killed 22 people in wine country started just a few miles from downtown.

When fire danger required shutting off transmission lines that might spark a blaze, the town relied on a bank of generators in a popular recreation area that belched choking diesel exhaust and rumbled so loudly it drove people away.