Diablo Canyon power plant. Credit: Flickr/Nuclear Regulatory Commission (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Tina Landis is the author of the book Climate Solutions Beyond Capitalism.
Despite opposition from residents and environmental organizations, California legislators passed Senate Bill 846 in 2022 to extend the life of the dangerous, aging Diablo Canyon nuclear facility. Located on the Central Coast surrounded by several fault lines, one has to question why a nuclear facility was placed in an earthquake zone to begin with, much less allowing it to continue to operate well past its retirement date. The world witnessed what can happen to a coastal nuclear facility in an earthquake zone when the 2011 Fukushima disaster triggered a meltdown that displaced nearly half a million residents, with vast amounts of radioactive water still being released into the ocean today. As long as Diablo Canyon remains open, Californians live with the constant risk of suffering the same type of disaster.
From its inception, Diablo Canyon had little public support. Protests occurred regularly during its construction, and thousands were arrested for civil disobedience actions in 1981.
In the 1970s and 1980s, California’s three largest utilities spent billions of dollars building dangerous and costly nuclear plants like Diablo Canyon, which resulted in skyrocketing rates for customers. Big industry fought back against these increased energy costs, which resulted in deregulation bills consisting of multi-billion dollar bailouts to the state’s utility companies to cover their costly investments in nuclear.
Today, the last remaining nuclear plant operating in the state is still draining billions in funds that could be used for safe, renewable energy development. To keep Diablo Canyon running 5 years past its retirement date is expected to cost $8 billion to $12 billion. A federal aid package of $1.1 billion will contribute to some of those costs – meaning federal taxpayers’ money – while the remaining billions will be passed on to California ratepayers.
Despite being run by PG&E and only generating power for its territory, customers of Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric will help cover the remaining costs of the Diablo extension. Edison bills will increase by around $1.25 a month and SDG&E by 87 cents a month, while PG&E customers are expected to chip in $2.07 a month – and that’s just for the first year. Critics warn that costs are likely to increase in coming years to keep the plant running, and that’s on top of already skyrocketing PG&E rates that have doubled over the last decade. And if PG&E collects more funds than are needed for Diablo’s operations, they get to keep it!
In 2022, when legislators pushed this through SB 846, the excuse of energy shortages was used due to pandemic-related supply chain issues and massive wildfires. But today, there is plenty of energy being produced with increased solar and battery storage capacity that has kept the lights on even during this summer’s unprecedented heat waves driving up demand. The California Public Utility Commission’s own reporting shows that an additional 18,500 megawatts of new resources were added to the grid between 2020 and 2024, which is enough to power around 14 million homes. Another 11,000 megawatts will be added by 2028.
Nuclear has the third highest lifecycle emissions of all energy sources after scrubbed coal fired plants and natural gas – meaning it is far from being zero-emission. It also creates the unresolved issue of the radioactive waste which remains dangerous for tens of thousands to millions of years. Keeping the Diablo facility running will only hold back further development of safe and truly low-carbon, low cost renewable sources like solar and wind energy.
So why isn’t Diablo Canyon being decommissioned? The short answer is that capitalism must ensure continued profits for the investor class.
SB 846 authorized Diablo’s extension through 2030, and gave PG&E a $1.4 billion loan for the for-profit utility to facilitate the plant’s extension. Governor Newsom facilitated another transfer of taxpayer dollars to PG&E through an additional $400 million loan from the state’s general fund, included in the recent budget deal. Critics warn that these “loans” will never be repaid, meaning residents will be fully subsidizing the Diablo extension – from federal and state tax dollars to our utility fees.
But there is a way out. SB 846 allows the CPUC to retire the plant earlier than 2030 if sufficient levels of new renewable zero-carbon energy resources exist, are interconnected, and meet demand, which is the case.
CPUC has a long track record of serving PG&E’s interests, so intervention by the commission is unlikely. One example of many that demonstrates their close relationship: CPUC is not requiring PG&E to show how much of our utility bill actually goes to the Diablo extension, but instead lumps the cost in with “public purpose programs,” making it impossible to determine.
While communities are demanding an early shutdown of Diablo, PG&E is currently applying for a 20-year license renewal from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the facility, which is expected to be approved. This would mean customers will foot the bill to keep this dangerous nuclear facility running through 2045, far beyond the original expiration dates of 2024 and 2025.
CPUC has proven their unwavering support time and again for PG&E’s monopoly control over the state’s energy system at the expense of residents’ safety and affordable rates. The Diablo Canyon nuclear plant is just another mechanism to squeeze ratepayers and line the pockets of shareholders who live far away from the dangers posed by this aging facility. Only a public takeover of this corrupt utility can win clean, safe and affordable energy for all.
