Bill Backfills Diablo Nuke Employee Incentives & San Luis Obispo Revenue

Legislation would restore $215 million for employee retention and community mitigation cut by state regulators from a proposed agreement on the closure of Pacific Gas & Electric’s Diablo Canyon nuclear plant.

Sen. Bill Monning (R-Carmel) March 16 followed through on his pledge to fully reinstate ratepayer funding for those proposed terms for shutting down the Diablo plant by 2025.

Monning’s amended SB 1090, coauthored by a Republican lawmaker from San Luis Obispo, Jordan Cunningham, is in response to the California Public Utilities Commission Jan. 11 decision insisting PG&E shareholders pay for the proposed $85 million in mitigation funds to the community to make up for its impending loss in property taxes. It also adds back $130 million cut from PG&E’s proposed $350 million for employee payouts.

“SB 1090 is necessary to ensure that Diablo Canyon operates safely and reliably for the remainder of its license period, and provides a bridge of predictability and security to the greater San Luis Obispo region as the transition to the closure of Diablo Canyon moves forward,” Monning said.

“This legislation reinstates the joint party agreement that has been held up as the gold standard for moving into our new energy future while protecting workers, communities and the environment,” added Robert Dean with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245.

The CPUC’s unanimously adopted closure decision provides $222.6 million of the proposed $352 million for employee retention and retraining outlined in the proposed settlement. Regulators objected to the full payout because of a large number of expected retirements. They also balked at PG&E promising workers the higher amount without first conferring with them.

In addition to restoring $85 million in ratepayer funds for community mitigation and the full employee retention, the bill further requires the CPUC to establish an expedited advice letter process for approval and implementation of the mitigation and employee incentives.

The bill does not restore the $1.3 billion for energy efficiency included in the joint proposed agreement, which the CPUC took out. It does, however, specify that any power gaps the CPUC decides need filling post Diablo’s closure not raise greenhouse gas emissions.

Ultimately, though, it leaves identifying what energy resources will be needed to replace the nuclear plant to be decided through the commission’s Integrated Resource Planning process.

“This bill acknowledges that our community has assumed the risk of having a nuclear power plant in our backyard,” said San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon. “This is a step in the right direction in ensuring our community does not helplessly suffer as other nuclear power plant communities have from similar plant shutdowns.” — Elizabeth McCarthy

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Bill Backfills Diablo Nuke Employee Incentives & San Luis Obispo Revenue

William J. Kelly

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