Could SLO County get more than $49.5 million for the Diablo Canyon closure?

San Luis Obispo County could potentially get more money out of PG&E’s plan to close Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant than previously proposed.

An administrative law judge has ruled that the economic impact of the closure on the county and its residents can be considered in the next year and a half of hearings and testimony. PG&E plans to close the plant by 2025.

When the utility announced its plan in June — as part of a joint agreement between labor and environmental organizations to increase investment in energy efficiency, renewable power and electricity storage — PG&E promised $49.5 million would go to county agencies to offset declining property values through 2025. The company also proposed a program to retain and retrain employees through decommissioning.

Since then, local officials have expressed concerns that the closure’s actual impact on the economy is much larger, and they have sought more help — and potentially funding — from the company during and after the closure.

PG&E initially moved to have talk of the closure’s potential economic impact taken off the table, because state Senate Bill 968 already directs the California Public Utilities Commission to undertake an independent third-party assessment of the closure’s local economic impacts.

But following input from the community, Judge Peter Allen ruled Nov. 18 that the economic impact is within the scope of the proceedings and that interested parties can offer testimony on it. That testimony should “address the appropriate size and timing of any mitigation measures and the source of funding for mitigation measures,” Allen said.

“PG&E’s proposal would mitigate some, but not all, of the community impacts resulting from the proposed retirement of Diablo Canyon,” Allen wrote.

This could potentially mean some more financial support for county agencies, if they can prove $49.5 million isn’t enough to sustain the community through the transition.

Allen also ruled that testimony can address the timing of the proposed closure, how PG&E will replace Diablo Canyon’s output and the utility’s proposed employee program — meaning those could face changes as well.

PG&E spokesman Blair Jones issued the following statement Tuesday in response to the scoping ruling:

“We think the administrative law judge has outlined a fair approach for assessing economic impacts in this proceeding without delay, while preserving the independent assessment of economic impacts envisioned through Sen. Monning’s bill. As you know, a key focus of the joint proposal is supporting the community in transitioning to a future without Diablo Canyon Power Plant in operation. To that end, we proposed funding to support the community, have had discussions and encouraged feedback on the proposed funding, and we will continue our dialogue with stakeholders on this important issue as the joint proposal moves through the CPUC review process.”

Hearings are expected to begin in April 2017, with a decision sometime in mid-2017.

This story was originally published November 24, 2016 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Could SLO County get more than $49.5 million for the Diablo Canyon closure?."