The majority of the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors should not be looking for ways to keep Diablo Canyon Power Plant operating beyond the decommissioning dates that are set in the joint proposal of 2016. PG&E has stated that challenging policies and market conditions led to its decision to close the plant in August of 2025.
The energy produced by Diablo Canyon Power Plant is above market pricing, and PG&E has applied to the California Public Utilities Commission for permission to again raise its rates for customers.
With more renewables coming online, there is a declining need for energy from Diablo.
Every city in SLO County has decided to make Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) available as the energy supplier to its residents. But this same majority on the Board of Supervisors refuses to do the same for unincorporated areas.
This is backward thinking. The board should make 3CE available to all residents in the county. Anyone preferring to remain a PG&E customer can opt out of the cleaner option offered by 3CE.
Marty Brown
Atascadero
This article appears in Feb 24 – Mar 3, 2022.
Just because you might not like nuclear power doesn’t mean you can just make stuff up and say whatever you want. There is no declining need for energy, and specifically for emission-free electricity. Have you looked recently at California’s supply? It’s nearly 50% natural gas, and 30% “unspecified” (i.e. potentially dirty) imports. We need more clean electricity, not less, and if we close Diablo Canyon, we’re simply digging a bigger hole.
And what really, do *you* know about electricity pricing? It’s very complex, and I don’t totally understand it either, but you can’t make simple comments like “it’s above market value” when that is actually pretty clearly the opposite. Diablo Canyon makes electricity for 3 cents per kwh. That’s pretty much the cheapest it gets. But that doesn’t actually matter much, given lots of market conditions and policies in california, which you also mention. DCPP electricity gets bid into the day ahead market for zero cents. Yes, PG&E is raising rates. And rates will go up even more if they have to procure more clean electricity (that’s far more than 3 c/kwh) to try and replace diablo. Guess what? Solar and wind don’t work all the time, and when you factor in costs of storage, the price goes up even more.
I would love to talk with you more about this issue Marty – I know you’ve been outspoken for a while. I think we care about the same things, and I hope that even though it’s hard, you might be willing to reexamine some of your assumptions. You might find, like I did, that nuclear aligns amazingly well with your environmental and humanitarian values, and that other sources of energy and programs that promise clean energy aren’t what they seem and even create environmental and social justice issues.