Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant

State Decision on Diablo Canyon Closure on Hold Until January

Author: Administrative Office
Date: 12/14/2017 2:14 PM

County officials react to the news that a State commission put its decision regarding the Diablo Canyon Power Plant closure joint agreement on hold.

The California Public Utilities Commission announced today that it will put a discussion on hold until January regarding a multimillion-dollar proposal to ease the local impact of Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s impending closure.

The proposed agreement between the County, local cities, SLO Coastal Unified School District, and PG&E was meant to safeguard local public health, safety and economic stability. County officials expressed optimism after the commission delayed the decision on the joint proposal today.

“Despite our radically diverse interests and viewpoints, a broad community and business coalition all came together and agreed that the proposal would help us protect local public health, safety and economic stability,” said County Counsel Rita Neal. “This continues to be our top priority. We will wait to move forward and when the commission reaches a decision, we will consider all of our options and next steps.”

It was not immediately clear to County officials why the decision was put on hold. At its January hearing, the commission will review a proposed decision, which recommends rejecting the proposed Community Impact Mitigation Program agreed to by the local coalition. The proposed decision cited concerns over fairness to the community and ratepayers, and determined that the mitigation funds are in-lieu of tax payments that must be approved by the State Legislature. 

PG&E announced in June 2016 that it plans to close Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in 2025, but that the plant won’t be fully decommissioned for years afterward. Soon after the announcement was made, the County took a lead role and intervened in the relevant proceedings before the CPUC. In November 2016, the County, cities, and schools reached a multimillion dollar settlement agreement with PG&E to ease the local impacts of the plant’s closure.