California Lawmakers Voted To Keep The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Open

The state Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill, SB-846. The legislation allows the utility that operates the nuclear plant, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, to apply for access to federal funding to keep the nuclear power plant operating. The vote is a reversal of previous plans to close the nuclear plant. The vote also comes as California struggles to meet its energy needs. Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant provides 8.6 percent of the state’s total electricity and 17 percent of the state’s zero-carbon electricity. On Wednesday, California’s Independent System Operator (ISO), the nonprofit organization charged with maintaining reliable power on behalf of customers, issued two calls to Californians to reduce their energy consumption to avoid blackouts. The first of these “Flex Alerts” asked Californians to conserve energy use during peak hours from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. of Wednesday. The second “Flex Alert” issued Wednesday asked California residents to conserve energy during the same hours Thursday. California’s energy grid is being pushed to its limits as high temperatures force residents to use air conditioning, the California ISO said. Nuclear reactors in the United States are monitored by the federal regulatory body, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Before Wednesday’s vote, one of the Diablo Canyon reactors was licensed to operate until November 2024 and the second until August 2025. The Senate bill allows PG&E to apply to keep the two reactors open by October 2029 and October 2030, respectively. The nuclear plant was slated to shut down in large part because of anti-nuclear sentiment in the state and a preference for building renewables like wind and solar. But sentiment about nuclear power has shifted as the effects of climate change have become more severe. Nuclear power generation does not release greenhouse gases, the pollutants that cause climate change. The state has struggled to get on board with renewables as quickly as expected. “International supply chain disruptions and delays in bringing new clean energy generation and storage systems online have temporarily put the state behind schedule in meeting its renewable energy targets,” said a document provided to reporters by the governor’s office. And in the text of the legislation, the extension of the life of the nuclear power reactor is called a “discontinuance measure”. On Wednesday afternoon, before the vote, Governor Newsom addressed the energy crisis and indicated the need to keep Diablo Canyon open. “For years and years and years, and I would put this in global terms, we — all of us — have been trying to outdo Mother Nature,” Newsom said at a news conference. “But it’s pretty clear that Mother Nature has gotten the better of us. The reality is that we’re living in a time of extremes, extreme heat, extreme drought” and extreme flooding, Newsom said. California weather will be in the triple digits for next week, Newsom said. A widespread extreme drought has reduced the amount of energy California can get from hydropower, Newsom said. And since California suffered rolling blackouts in August 2020, the state has worked to speed up the “ridiculous and unacceptable” permitting process for renewable wind and solar projects, Newsom said. But despite California’s efforts to increase wind power, solar power and battery storage, the state needs to keep Diablo Canyon online “for a short period of time,” Newsom said. The legislation includes a $1.4 billion loan from the state to the utility that operates the nuclear reactor, PG&E, to pay for the costs needed to make the necessary capital expenditures needed to extend Diablo Canyon’s operating license. The state expects to be reimbursed for the costs associated with that loan with funds from the federal government’s $6 billion Nuclear Policy Credit Program, which was passed as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act in November. The $6 billion nuclear program is intended to support the existing fleet of nuclear reactors in the United States. PG&E must apply to access the $6 billion in federal funding by Sept. 6, and for the utility to be eligible to apply, the state had to pass its own legislation before the end of the current legislative session . night, last minute rush. If the federal government does not approve Diablo Canyon for federal funding, then PG&E, the operator, “shall repay all unspent and unobligated loan monies and the department shall immediately terminate the loan,” the bill’s text says . Also, if the California Public Utilities Commission, a state regulatory agency, decides that enough renewable or other zero-emission energy sources “have been connected in sufficient quantity to meet California’s reliability standards, Diablo Canyon will not be expanded.” , the description of the legislation from Newsom’s office.

title: “California Lawmakers Voted To Keep The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Open Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-21” author: “Deborah Tyler”

The state Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill, SB-846. The legislation allows the utility that operates the nuclear plant, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, to apply for access to federal funding to keep the nuclear power plant operating. The vote is a reversal of previous plans to close the nuclear plant. The vote also comes as California struggles to meet its energy needs. Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant provides 8.6 percent of the state’s total electricity and 17 percent of the state’s zero-carbon electricity. On Wednesday, California’s Independent System Operator (ISO), the nonprofit organization charged with maintaining reliable power on behalf of customers, issued two calls to Californians to reduce their energy consumption to avoid blackouts. The first of these “Flex Alerts” asked Californians to conserve energy use during peak hours from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. of Wednesday. The second “Flex Alert” issued Wednesday asked California residents to conserve energy during the same hours Thursday. California’s energy grid is being pushed to its limits as high temperatures force residents to use air conditioning, the California ISO said. Nuclear reactors in the United States are monitored by the federal regulatory body, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Before Wednesday’s vote, one of the Diablo Canyon reactors was licensed to operate until November 2024 and the second until August 2025. The Senate bill allows PG&E to apply to keep the two reactors open by October 2029 and October 2030, respectively. The nuclear plant was slated to shut down in large part because of anti-nuclear sentiment in the state and a preference for building renewables like wind and solar. But sentiment about nuclear power has shifted as the effects of climate change have become more severe. Nuclear power generation does not release greenhouse gases, the pollutants that cause climate change. The state has struggled to get on board with renewables as quickly as expected. “International supply chain disruptions and delays in bringing new clean energy generation and storage systems online have temporarily put the state behind schedule in meeting its renewable energy targets,” said a document provided to reporters by the governor’s office. And in the text of the legislation, the extension of the life of the nuclear power reactor is called a “discontinuance measure”. On Wednesday afternoon, before the vote, Governor Newsom addressed the energy crisis and indicated the need to keep Diablo Canyon open. “For years and years and years, and I would put this in global terms, we — all of us — have been trying to outdo Mother Nature,” Newsom said at a news conference. “But it’s pretty clear that Mother Nature has gotten the better of us. The reality is that we’re living in a time of extremes, extreme heat, extreme drought” and extreme flooding, Newsom said. California weather will be in the triple digits for next week, Newsom said. A widespread extreme drought has reduced the amount of energy California can get from hydropower, Newsom said. And since California suffered rolling blackouts in August 2020, the state has worked to speed up the “ridiculous and unacceptable” permitting process for renewable wind and solar projects, Newsom said. But despite California’s efforts to increase wind power, solar power and battery storage, the state needs to keep Diablo Canyon online “for a short period of time,” Newsom said. The legislation includes a $1.4 billion loan from the state to the utility that operates the nuclear reactor, PG&E, to pay for the costs needed to make the necessary capital expenditures needed to extend Diablo Canyon’s operating license. The state expects to be reimbursed for the costs associated with that loan with funds from the federal government’s $6 billion Nuclear Policy Credit Program, which was passed as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act in November. The $6 billion nuclear program is intended to support the existing fleet of nuclear reactors in the United States. PG&E must apply to access the $6 billion in federal funding by Sept. 6, and for the utility to be eligible to apply, the state had to pass its own legislation before the end of the current legislative session . night, last minute rush. If the federal government does not approve Diablo Canyon for federal funding, then PG&E, the operator, “shall repay all unspent and unobligated loan monies and the department shall immediately terminate the loan,” the bill’s text says . Also, if the California Public Utilities Commission, a state regulatory agency, decides that enough renewable or other zero-emission energy sources “have been connected in sufficient quantity to meet California’s reliability standards, Diablo Canyon will not be expanded.” , the description of the legislation from Newsom’s office.