Most of the time, when I flip a light switch, I don’t give it a second thought. I certainly don’t think about Diablo Canyon Power Plant out there on our coastline, splitting atoms and heating water and turning turbines that generate the power that makes my light switch work. Unless, of course, Diablo is in the news, which it is a lot.
The kerfuffle du jour is that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) decided one of the plant’s forced outages was the result of Pacific Gas and Electric‘s (PG&E) inadequate testing and hence shouldn’t have been necessary and ratepayers shouldn’t have to cover the $43.2 million PG&E spent to buy replacement electricity. CPUC has ordered PG&E to return the $43.2 million to ratepayers.
Of course, PG&E no likey! Spokesperson Carina Corral told New Times in a prepared statement, “We are confident we have taken the right steps to ensure safe and reliable operation of Diablo Canyon to support overall grid reliability and provide electricity to 4 million Californians.”
Maybe I’m bad at math, but $43.2 million divided by 4 million ratepayers is $10.80 each, right? I mean, I’ll take it, but will I feel it?
Corral said the money will be folded into PG&E’s 2026 rates in January. In other words, you’re probably not going to notice the refund.
If watchdog group Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility (A4NR) had its way, you’d get more cash back. It believes PG&E should be held responsible for three forced outages.
A4NR Executive Director David Weisman told New Times that during 2020-21, replacement generator failure in Unit 2 led to 149 days of unplanned outages.
“During that half a year, PG&E had to buy replacement power from some other vendor to make up the loss of power from Diablo,” Weisman said. “They wanted to charge the ratepayers for that. We then stepped in and said, ‘We think you messed this up and we shouldn’t be on the hook for it.'”
Probably not gonna happen …
A4NR is also none too happy about Senate Bill 846—the state legislation detailing Diablo Canyon’s extension beyond 2025. The bill allows PG&E to charge ratepayers up to $300 million for accidents related to keeping the plant open.
Weisman criticized state Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) for supporting the legislation: “If you care about ratepayers, if you care about affordability, how do you build a $300 million get-out-of-jail-free card into this?”
Sheesh! Can we just put solar panels on every suitable roof and get on with it?
This week’s installment of litigation nation features the city of San Luis Obispo versus Righetti Ranch (Righetti NC LLC), who are playing hot potato on the costs associated with landslides in the Righetti Hill open space. In April, the city sued Righetti for landslides, arguing that Righetti didn’t follow a requirement to install a drainage easement and their grading of surroundings lots led to the problems.
Now Righetti is suing the city for damages, accusing the city of neglecting maintenance of two lots dedicated to the city, which resulted in landslides. Righetti claimed it spent $152,219 in 2019 to remove the debris caused by slope failure and an additional $200,977 in 2023 to make emergency repairs on another lot to avert further failures. The lawsuit demands damages to the tune of $353,196.98 from the city.
SLO City Attorney Christine Dietrick told New Times in an email regarding the lawsuit, “Nothing has changed about the city’s fundamental position as expressed when we last discussed it—the city’s position is that the cause of the slides is Righetti’s work and faulty repair that destabilized the hillside and that there is no failure of city maintenance or other wrongful conduct related to the slides.”
I don’t envy the judge who has to figure this one out. Hopefully s/he’s a soil scientist and geotechnical engineer.
In Cayucos, the community is dealing with a troubled bridge over creek waters since Cabrillo Bridge, which runs between the Cayucos-Morro Bay Cemetery and water treatment plant, has been closed to golf cart traffic. Built in 1987 as a pedestrian and bicycle pathway connecting the two halves of Cayucos that otherwise require driving on Highway 1 to reach, the bridge originally had six bollards, three at each side, to stop motor vehicle traffic.
According to Cayucos-Morro Bay Cemetery District Manager Dale Guerra, in 2013, the bollards were removed and thrown into the creek below. They were returned to their positions only to disappear entirely. Then golf carts began using the bridge regularly.
“There’s been some bad eggs, like any other public place,” Guerra said, “There’s been some bad people that are speeding, and they go out into the dirt area and spin doughnuts. But you know, most of them are good.”
After a near-miss collision between a golf cart and pedestrian and subsequent complaints, the bollards have all been reinstalled, and the golf cart drivers want them removed, arguing that closing the bridge amounts to cutting the town in two. It sucks that no surface streets connect north and south Cayucos, and golf carts are fun.
Luckily, lame duck 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson is on the case. He hopes the Cayucos Bridge Committee and SLO County Public Works can form an agreement, which he acknowledges could take months or years. His term expires in 2026. Δ
The Shredder can’t afford to sue anyone. Lament at shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 10, 2025.