Should Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant stay open through 2030? Vote expected today
The California State Legislature was scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that could keep Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant running through 2030 — five years after its scheduled shut-down date.
Senate Bill 846 was authored by Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, and Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, R-San Luis Obispo. The bill was submitted on Aug. 28, just three days before the end of the legislative session.
Since Diablo Canyon’s retirement was first announced in 2016, the state has been unable to procure enough clean, renewable energy sources to replace the San Luis Obispo County power plant as climate change-related factors stress the electricity grid and overall demand rises.
Early Wednesday afternoon, California electric grid operator issued a so-called “flex alert” for 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., asking residents to voluntarily conserve energy due to “high temperatures pushing up energy demand and tightening available power supplies.”
The state has turned to Diablo Canyon Power Plant in a last-minute effort to keep the lights on.
If approved, SB 846 would allocate $1.4 billion to the state Department of Water Resources in a Diablo Canyon Extension Fund, according to the bill’s text. That money would be loaned to PG&E, the utility company that operates the plant, in separate appropriations.
Any funding beyond $600 million would have to be voted on by the legislature.
PG&E would be allowed to continue operating the plant because it would delay its needed compliance with state water quality laws to Oct. 31, 2030.
The California State Water Resources Control Board has said Diablo Canyon’s once-through cooling system violates state laws because it degrades native, cold-water marine life and has allowed non-native, warm-water marine life to grow.
The cooling system pumps in and out nearly 2.5 billion gallons of ocean water every day — killing larvae and small organisms sucked into the intake structure and significantly warming the 40-acre Diablo Cove at the discharge structure at the base of the power plant.
An alternative to the once-through cooling system has long been deemed unaffordable and unfeasible by the utility.
Pushing its required compliance date means PG&E will continue to pay into a state mitigation fund for the impacts by the once-through cooling system.
Its estimated PG&E payment to the fund is about $38 million for the plant’s operating years 2015 through 2025, according to the state water board.
Cunningham said in a written statement Wednesday that the bill will create a path toward grid reliability for the state.
“California’s electricity grid is on a knife’s edge,” he said. “The California Energy Commission projects that we could be several gigawatts short of what we need to meet peak demand in 2025. This problem will be compounded if Diablo Canyon shuts down as currently scheduled.
“As we have said for six years, our state is not ready to shut this plant down. We need to extend Diablo as a transition to future projects like offshore wind in order to maintain grid reliability, and to protect ratepayers from massive cost spikes.”
The bill adds requirements to already-established energy procurement planning policies in hopes that the state’s electricity needs will be met in a post-Diablo Canyon era.
Specifically, the bill would “require sufficient, predictable resource procurement and development to avoid unplanned energy supply shortfalls by taking into account impacts due to climate change and other factors that can result in those shortfalls.”
Additionally, the bill would require the state Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission to provide quarterly assessments on the state’s five- to 10-year projected electrical supply and demand balance under certain risk scenarios.
And the bill would require the Energy Commission to present a cost comparison of operating Diablo Canyon to alternatives by Sept. 30, 2023.
Importantly, the bill also includes several provisions that would trigger a suspension or early termination of the loan agreement.
This includes a determination that “extension of the Diablo Canyon power plant is not cost effective,” or that its “license renewal, permit or approval conditions are too onerous, or will generate costs that exceed the maximum amount of” the $1.4 billion loan, according to the bill.
Alternatively, should the state determine that Diablo Canyon is no longer needed to fill gaps in the electricity grid after 2025, the loan could be terminated, according to the bill.
Finally, should the U.S. Department of Energy determine that Diablo Canyon is not qualified for funding under its $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit program, the loan could be suspended.
That funding aims to keep struggling nuclear power plants operational and “would reduce costs to our customers should the state want to preserve the option to extend (Diablo Canyon) operations to help ensure grid reliability,” PG&E spokesperson Lynsey Paulo said.
PG&E has a deadline of Sept. 6 to apply for those funds, should it choose to.
Lawmakers were expected to vote on the bill Wednesday evening.
This story was originally published August 31, 2022 at 2:12 PM.
