A worker lays cables at Energy Vault, a company that is creating an emergency power system that relies on hydrogen and battery storage, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, in Calistoga, Calif. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag) The Associated Press

CALISTOGA, Calif. -- 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 dro

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