The last nuclear power plant in California has been given a closing date.
The state's largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. [PG&E], and environmental groups have reached an agreement on a joint proposal that will close California's last nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, in 2025, ending the state's nuclear power era. The 30-year-old plant supplies nine percent of California's annual power. The agreement will replace it with solar power and other forms of renewable energy.
According to a press release, under the terms of this joint proposal, PG&E will close Diablo Canyon at the end of its current Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) operating licenses. PG&E will immediately cease any efforts on its part to renew the Diablo Canyon operating licenses and will ask the NRC to suspend consideration of the pending Diablo Canyon license renewal application pending withdrawal with prejudice of the NRC application upon California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approval of the Joint Proposal Application.
PG&E does not believe customer rates will increase as a result of the joint proposal because it believes it is likely that implementing the proposal will have a lower overall cost than relicensing the Diablo Canyon Power Plant [DCPP] and operating it through 2044. Factors affecting this include, in addition to lower demand, declining costs for renewable power and the potential for higher renewable integration costs if DCPP is relicensed.
The Joint Proposal is contingent on a number of important regulatory actions, including:
- Approval of a lease extension from the State Lands Commission without which the company cannot operate DCPP beyond 2018.
- Approval by the CPUC of the proposed plan for replacement of Diablo Canyon with greenhouse gas free resources. Any resource procurement PG&E makes will be subject to a non-bypassable cost allocation mechanism that ensures all users of PG&E's grid pay a fair share of the costs.
- CPUC confirmation that PG&E's investment in DCPP will be recovered by the time the plant closes in 2025.
- CPUC approval of cost recovery for appropriate employee and community transition benefits.
The move ends a power source once predicted as necessary to meet the growing energy needs of the nation's most populous state. The parties to the Joint Proposal are PG&E, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, Coalition of California Utility Employees, Friends of the Earth, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environment California and Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility.
The joint proposal can be read in its entirety here.
