The proposal to keep the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant running beyond a scheduled closing by 2025 gave new urgency to a decades-long fight over the seismic safety of the site. And critics depicted Newsom's plan as a huge financial giveaway for plant operator
Newsom's draft proposal includes a potential forgivable loan for
The seaside plant located midway between
“The governor has been clear for months about the potential need to extend the life of
He added that Newsom has stressed the need to keep all options on the table to maintain reliable power and that “this proposal reflects the continued need to keep that flexibility.”
Newsom’s proposal amounts to an attempt to unspool a complex 2016 agreement among environmentalists, plant worker unions and the utility to close the plant by 2025. The joint decision also was endorsed by
Environmental groups depicted the move as a “dangerous” betrayal of the 2016 pact.
"Legislators should reject it out of hand," said a joint statement from
“This draft was prepared by someone with little understanding of
PG&E’s service area is concentrated in
The draft proposal was released ahead of a
Newsom clearly wants to avoid a repeat of
The Newsom administration is pushing to expand clean energy, as the state aims to cut emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. Nuclear power doesn’t produce carbon pollution like fossil fuels, but leaves behind waste that can remain dangerously radioactive for centuries.
The legislative session shuts down
The Democratic governor, who is seen as a possible future
Those raising questions with Newsom include state Sen.
With an extended run, “Who pays, and is there fairness in who pays?” Laird asked in an interview. “There have been additional earthquake faults discovered near the plant, and seismic upgrades were never totally completed. Will they address that?”
Laird outlined other issues that include who would pay for maintenance that has been put off because the plant is scheduled to close by 2025, and whether there is time for
“We are under a tight timeframe,” Laird added. “That begs the question of could they do everything it needs to be extended by 2025?”
The company is assessing that possibility while continuing to plan for closing and dismantling the plant “unless those actions are superseded by new state policies,”
Construction of the
Newsom's push for a longer run for the reactors doesn't square easily with his assessment in 2016, when as lieutenant governor he supported the closure agreement as part of the
Seismic issues at the plant “are not insignificant concerns,” he said at the time. “This is not the preeminent site if you’re ... concerned about seismic safety.”
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