Lawmakers to vote Wednesday on a 5-year extension for Diablo Canyon. It’s no slam-dunk

A bill aimed at keeping the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open past 2025 will come up for a vote in the state Legislature on Wednesday — but it’s not as generous to PG&E as the governor’s original proposal.

For one thing, it limits the time extension to five years per reactor unit rather than 10, which means the plant would close in 2029-2030.

After that, PG&E would be prohibited from using the plant’s once-through cooling system that spews warm water back into the ocean, significantly changing the marine environment.

There also would more more conditions placed on the “forgivable” $1.4 billion loan proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The loan would be doled out in increments, and the Legislature would have to authorize spending beyond $600 million.

Co-authored by San Luis Obispo County Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham and Sen. Bill Dodd, Senate Bill 846 also allocates $1 billion toward a clean energy investment plan that would jump-start zero-emission projects as the state transitions away from carbon-based sources of energy. And it requires regular reporting of energy projections to the Legislature — something that should have been happening all along.

If this push to keep Diablo Canyon operating seems rushed, it is.

The Legislature recesses on Aug. 31, which means it has one day to pass the bill. It can’t wait until the lawmakers are back in session because PG&E has to submit an application for federal funding in September.

Approval is not a slam-dunk.

Because it contains an urgency clause, the bill requires a two-thirds majority vote in each house to pass. And if it does pass, there are more hoops PG&E will have to jump through, including getting a license extension from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

While the public has been more receptive to the idea of keeping Diablo running, there’s been strong opposition from anti-nuclear organizations concerned about seismic safety and the lack of a permanent storage facility for spent fuel, as well as questions about whether it makes financial sense to prop up California’s last nuclear power plant — especially if it burdens ratepayers with higher costs.

On the other hand, there are economic benefits for the Central Coast.

In addition to keeping one of the region’s major industries afloat for five more years, the bill provides $160 million to support conservation and economic development of Diablo Canyon lands; preserves economic recovery funds provided to San Luis Obispo County agencies; and retains workforce retention bonuses for employees throughout the period of continued operation.

On the face of it, this is a reasonable compromise that we can support, especially since it’s more in line with what the three-to-five-year extension the Governor’s Office had originally discussed. That should be more palatable to those who are on the fence about the extension.

Keep in mind, though, that there is no guarantee Diablo Canyon will permanently shut down in 2030.

Who’s to say the state won’t be in a similar situation five years from now, especially given the demands the transition to electric vehicles will place on the grid? That could very well trigger another last-ditch effort to keep the nuclear plant operating.

Allocating $1 billion to clean energy investments is a step in the right direction, but if California really is going to pull the plug on nuclear power, it cannot afford any more delays in transitioning to wind, solar and battery storage.

The state has ambitious goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but it’s going to take some serious watchdogging to ensure officials keep their promises when it comes to clean energy.

This story was originally published August 30, 2022 at 3:54 PM.