The SLO County Board of Supervisors recommended a 20-year extension of Diablo Canyon operations 

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution recommending two decades more of operations at Diablo Canyon Power Plant despite it not yet meeting requirements for the existing five-year extension.

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• File Photo By Jayson Mellom
• TURNED AWAY While 3rd District San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg (left)supported a resolution calling for a 20-year extension of activities at Diablo Canyon, 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson (right) rejected it.

"This resolution is based on activity that's been happening around the world and in the nation," 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said at the March 26 meeting. "I didn't say it; the Biden administration said it. It's clean energy. When we're trying to combat carbon, we have to look at everything we have, and we have a plant that's been operating safely, cleanly."

The resolution appeared before supervisors after they directed county staff to craft one during the Feb. 27 energy update discussion. Avila Beach-based Diablo Canyon—California's last nuclear power plant run by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)—provides 8.6 percent of the state's energy and 17 percent of its clean energy.

But it eventually filed an application for federal funding in September 2022 to keep the plant running. The utility company submitted the application on the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 846 into law, which invalidated the California Public Utilities Commission's approval of PG&E's plant retirement proposal and detailed a pathway to lengthen Diablo Canyon operations until 2030.

In October 2022, SB 846 also unlocked $1.4 billion in a state-authorized loan from the Department of Water Resources to PG&E. The money was meant to help PG&E continue extended activities at Diablo Canyon, improving statewide energy system reliability and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the process.

"SB 846 further directed PG&E to pursue funds from [the Department of Energy], and any other potentially available federal funds, to pay back the loan and lower costs for customers should the plant's operating license be extended," a November 2022 PG&E press release said.

PG&E applied for and received a $1.1 billon grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to do so. Last December, the Public Utilities Commission approved the proposal to keep Diablo Canyon running after PG&E engaged with the NRC to relicense the plant's reactors.

The county's resolution requests a 20-year extension of power plant operations from the state. It claims that such an agreement would ensure certainty, "material forecasting," and workforce planning, and reduce costs and promote grid stability when supplemented with renewable energy.

Acting County Administrative Officer Rebecca Campbell told New Times that it wasn't clearly specified what years the 20-year period would cover if lawmakers approved such an extension.

"However, it is my understanding that the extension would be from 2025 to 2045 since [Diablo Canyon] was going to be originally decommissioned in 2025," she said via email. "The county will follow the state's guidance on the future of energy. However, the county will continue to be engaged and will seek all options available in the event that [Diablo Canyon] is decommissioned."

Ortiz-Legg's office worked with county staff on the resolution, Campbell said at the March 26 meeting. The supervisor—a PG&E employee before she was appointed supervisor in 2020—firmly supported it along with 1st District Supervisor John Peschong and 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold. Second District Supervisor Bruce Gibson and 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding dissented.

Paulding added that the resolution doesn't align with state legislators who can help SLO County achieve the goal of lengthening

Diablo Canyon's lifespan.

"Some here today have said that this action to adopt a resolution ... is reckless," Paulding said. "I would not go that far, but I would stipulate that perhaps it's unwise given the timing. ... If we want the state of California to really be on board with that goal, ... we're going to have to work with our legislators at the state level."

Prior to the meeting, state Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) cautioned county leaders about the 20-year extension, especially when PG&E hasn't yet completed all the provisions listed under SB 846 for the five-year addition.

In a March 13 letter to the county, Laird said that the safety analysis of Diablo Canyon can't be completed until the embrittlement test of the first reactor concludes in 2025, with results expected in 2026. He added that fee issues related to the controversial once-through cooling system haven't been resolved; the review of Diablo Canyon land options is only in the early stages; and PG&E still hasn't completed its application to the California Coastal Commission for a consistency certificate under the Coastal Zone Management Act, among other shortcomings.

"It's starting to make me nervous because we have six months and PG&E hasn't filed with the California Coastal Commission," Laird told New Times.

The senator's letter also drew attention to monetary discrepancies between the $1.4 billion state loan awarded to PG&E and the $1.1 billion federal grant it received as part of a Civil Nuclear Credit agreement to pay it off. The grant amount is short $300 million to fully cover the loan, prompting parties like Laird, state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), and fiscal watchdog group Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility to worry whether taxpayers will have to pay the difference through increased utility bills.

"[We have to] make sure the financing isn't going to fall on taxpayers in any way," Laird said. "My colleagues are concerned about it."

Wiener sent a March 20 letter to the state Department of Finance that criticized providing such a high loan without having "basic loan repayment information." Wiener issued his remarks as the chair of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

"At this point, the administration cannot say for certain how the remaining $300 million will be repaid, leaving a potentially significant general fund liability in the future," his letter read.

Laird told New Times that if SB 846 requirements aren't met soon, and lawmakers approve a 20-year extension, transition pay for PG&E workers would be hard to maintain. He said he imagines they would take a pay cut.

An argument in favor of keeping the plant operating through 2045 includes the view that there isn't enough power to keep the grid running on hot summer days, Laird said. However, in October 2023, Newsom stated that California had increased its battery storage by a record 757 percent in four years. The governor stated that a "cleaner" and more reliable grid can be created through storing excess power from renewable sources like solar, wind, and water—alternatives to Diablo Canyon pointed out by nonprofit group Mothers for Peace.

Laird is now anticipating studying two reports poised for release from the California Energy Commission on the state of California's power.

A greenlit 20-year extension for Diablo Canyon would also require a whole new Senate bill similar to SB 846 that outlines how the power plant can withstand the extra years. Laird, who was involved with the SB 846 negotiations in 2022, told New Times that a bill for the recommended 20-year extension is too premature to talk about.

"I'm actually for SB 846 to be implemented in its entirety," he said. "Let's answer the questions before having the conversation [about another extension]." Δ

Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at [email protected].