It was a busy year for the County of San Luis Obispo as the local government continued to prepare for the closure of Diablo Canyon Power Plant by the end of 2025. Though the future is still uncertain, the County worked with local cities, school districts, community members, PG&E, and State and Federal representatives to develop plans that would help ease the local impacts of the power plant’s eventual closure.
“We’re focused on moving forward with our stakeholders and partners to growing and diversifying our regional economy,” said County Administrative Officer Wade Horton at a State public information meeting in June 2019.
Located near Avila Beach, Diablo Canyon Power Plant is California’s last nuclear power plant and is managed and operated by PG&E. Since 2016, the County has led the community’s efforts to prepare the region for 2025, when PG&E will decommission Diablo Canyon’s last active nuclear reactor. In 2013, it was estimated that the plant provides an economic benefit to the area in the amount of approximately $1 billion.
In August 2018, the State of California passed a bipartisan bill into law to ease the local and statewide impacts of the plant’s impending closure. The law was originally introduced in March 2018 by Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel) and Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo).
The new law called on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to approve elements of a Joint Proposal between PG&E and others to retire the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. The proposal modified by a settlement agreement between PG&E, the County, local cities and local school districts to also include measures that would ease how the closure would impact the region. To this end, the new state law called on the commission to approve the following:
“We can’t thank Senator Monning and Assemblyman Cunningham enough for their efforts, and the community for their incredible outpouring of support,” said District 1 Supervisor John Allan Peschong, who was the chairperson of the Board of Supervisors at the time. “This law will help ensure the safety, health and economic security of our community as we transition to a post-Diablo Canyon economy and environment.”
The County began receiving SB 1090 funds in early 2019. By the spring, the County received roughly $400,000 of the funding, which was placed in an economic development fund. In April 2019, the County granted $300,000 of these funds to the Hourglass Project, a coalition of business and civic leaders who will develop a Central Coast Jobs Roadmap and Action Plan. The County set the remaining $100,000 aside for other future grant purposes or for future use to further assess the local impacts of the closure of the power plant.
The State, via the CPUC and University of California, Berkeley, commissioned an economic impact study and released initial findings in June 2019. While the study states that the plant’s closure will be less than the originally estimated $1 billion, it estimated that the impact will still be significant – about $800 million.
One of the County’s priorities in the coming year will be to work with partners on initiatives to further study the impacts and create plans to develop the economy and prepare our community for the significant impact of the plant’s closure. The County is also working with community partners to help develop a plant for surrounding land preservation and reuse of Diablo Canyon assets.
“We’re focused on moving forward with our stakeholders and partners to growing and diversifying our regional economy,” said County Administrative Officer Wade Horton at a State public information meeting in June 2019.
Located near Avila Beach, Diablo Canyon Power Plant is California’s last nuclear power plant and is managed and operated by PG&E. Since 2016, the County has led the community’s efforts to prepare the region for 2025, when PG&E will decommission Diablo Canyon’s last active nuclear reactor. In 2013, it was estimated that the plant provides an economic benefit to the area in the amount of approximately $1 billion.
In August 2018, the State of California passed a bipartisan bill into law to ease the local and statewide impacts of the plant’s impending closure. The law was originally introduced in March 2018 by Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel) and Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo).
The new law called on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to approve elements of a Joint Proposal between PG&E and others to retire the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. The proposal modified by a settlement agreement between PG&E, the County, local cities and local school districts to also include measures that would ease how the closure would impact the region. To this end, the new state law called on the commission to approve the following:
- Full funding of the $350 million employee retention program
- A community impact mitigation settlement of $85 million, which is broken into two components: Economic Development Fund ($10 million) and Essential Services Mitigation Fund ($75 million). Roughly half of the Essential Services Mitigation Funds will go to local schools to support and maintain important education programs.
- An integrated resource plan to ensure that there is no increase in greenhouse gas emissions due to the retirement of Diablo Canyon
“We can’t thank Senator Monning and Assemblyman Cunningham enough for their efforts, and the community for their incredible outpouring of support,” said District 1 Supervisor John Allan Peschong, who was the chairperson of the Board of Supervisors at the time. “This law will help ensure the safety, health and economic security of our community as we transition to a post-Diablo Canyon economy and environment.”
The County began receiving SB 1090 funds in early 2019. By the spring, the County received roughly $400,000 of the funding, which was placed in an economic development fund. In April 2019, the County granted $300,000 of these funds to the Hourglass Project, a coalition of business and civic leaders who will develop a Central Coast Jobs Roadmap and Action Plan. The County set the remaining $100,000 aside for other future grant purposes or for future use to further assess the local impacts of the closure of the power plant.
The State, via the CPUC and University of California, Berkeley, commissioned an economic impact study and released initial findings in June 2019. While the study states that the plant’s closure will be less than the originally estimated $1 billion, it estimated that the impact will still be significant – about $800 million.
One of the County’s priorities in the coming year will be to work with partners on initiatives to further study the impacts and create plans to develop the economy and prepare our community for the significant impact of the plant’s closure. The County is also working with community partners to help develop a plant for surrounding land preservation and reuse of Diablo Canyon assets.
