As a school nurse, a parent in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District (SLCUSD), and a taxpayer, I am galled by PG&E’s refusal to support SLO County schools. PG&E is reporting record yearly profits of $2.75 billion, yet they are effectively abandoning the schools that educate the children of their own workers.
PG&E’s “accounting strategy” to avoid its civic duty is transparent and shameful. They claim that because Diablo Canyon was scheduled to shutter in 2025, its assets are “fully depreciated” and worth zero for tax purposes. The reality is that the plant is open, generating power, and raking in revenue. If it has value for shareholders, it has value for our community.
This loophole creates a massive budget deficit for the 2026-27 school year. Our children are losing small class sizes, transitional kindergarten hours, music, sports, and mental health counseling.
State Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) and Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) are introducing a bill this month to fix this, but we are at the finish line. The deadline to file new legislation is Feb. 20. If a bill isn’t officially filed by then, our schools are left high and dry. Even after filing, the bill must survive to a vote. By mid-March, SLCUSD is legally forced to issue layoff notices to teachers. If this legislation isn’t fast-tracked now, March will be too late.
When I requested accountability from PG&E’s Eric Daniels, I received a long email blaming the school district—the victim—for the problem and highlighting all they’ve done. He stated, “Legislation is necessary to provide a permanent solution.” Translation: PG&E won’t pay a dime unless forced to.
In 2021, PG&E’s CEO spoke about “leading with love.” Using a depreciation loophole to save millions while raking in billions isn’t love—it’s corporate greed. We demand a $7.5 million annual commitment to SLCUSD to replace the revenue PG&E is abandoning.
It’s up to us to make them accountable. Get loud, lovers of music, sports, and mental health! Contact not just our representatives, who are trying, but those who will get this bill through and demand they fast-track the Laird Unitary Tax Bill. Since PG&E said they won’t pay a dime until forced to, that’s exactly what we have to do.
Maeve Holden
school nurse, SLCUSD parent, taxpayer
This article appears in Feb 19-26, 2026.
PG&E aleady paid a $85 million settlement to resolve their tax liability, but the county has already spent it. I am not sure that it is reasonable to hold them “accountable” for paying more more because the original mount agreed to has been burned through.
The problem with the person that contributed this letter is that should Diablo Canyon/PG&E actually support local schools, they’ll simply raise their electrical rates on all of us. Since SLO is occupied by a bunch of well-off, child-free, Boomers, they take any taxation on them as a personal affront and lobby against your and my self interest. They would rather see our students go hungry, sit in cold classrooms in crumbling schools with poorly paid teachers, than pay one more dime in taxes. Having enjoyed a lifetime of wealth accumulation, much of which was subsidized taxes and wealth transfers from the poor to their class through repeated bank bailouts, they now sit, in their dotage, like puppateers, pulling the strings of the elected officials that could change the lives of all students by a microscopic tax increase or payment from PG&E to our basically insolvent public schools.
I do not believe $7.5 million annually to support local schools is exorbitant, especially considering the state has bankrolled refurbishments to the plant with a $1.4 billion forgivable loan. Also consider that if you were a share holder in PG&E you would have seen a continued profit in 2025 of about a nickel a share. In fact, according to Google, the company had profits of $2.59 billion for the full year 2025, a 4.8% increase from the $2.48 billion reported in 2024.”
Why makes PG&E (and local electricity users) the ones obligated to pay for the schools? They aren’t sending kids to the schools to be educated, or doing anything to create the need. They are targeted just because they have the money, and we want it. And they have already paid the agreed sum to settle their tax obligation. The honest thing would be for the people of school to pay for the education of our kids, not just look for a rich source of money to tap.
John Donegan:
So, “Let them eat cake,” huh? We all know how that ended. I think the average American has pretty much had it with that, especially as we look around and see a handful of people controlling so much wealth. Public education was decided a long time ago as so important, it would be a social good. Next, you’ll advocate for the end of public universities and for the privatization of roads. If you are so gung ho about it, John, why not just get rid of our standing army and instead, just hire contractors, right? I mean, that’s where your logic takes this.
JOHN
Here are the details regarding that settlement and related tax liabilities:
Diablo Canyon Settlement ($85M): This agreement, finalized around 2017, was designed to support local communities (San Luis Obispo County, cities, and schools) for tax revenue losses between 2017 and 2025.
It consisted of $75 million for an Essential Services Mitigation Fund and $10 million for an Economic Development Fund.
SEE THE 2017 TO 2025 PART? WHICH IS WHY THE LETTER POINTS TO 2026
The $85 million settlement mentioned was specifically a “Community Impacts Mitigation Program” package, not a general settlement for all corporate tax liabilities.