THREAT LEVEL: MODERATE
Diablo Canyon
Another case of a Governor, in this case Governor Jerry Brown, playing politics with his state's clean energy and grid reliability in order to appease politically-active constitutents. The progressive-leaning environmental lobby has been looking to shutter Diablo Canyon for a long time, and managed to utilize the same ploy as was used in New York State, a pretense of concern about fish fry. In both cases, litigation put sufficient pressure on PG&E, the owner of this plant, that they were forced to agree not to extend the plants license, which they were in the process of doing.
What You Can Do
Diablo Canyon Background
Since 2016, the independent nonprofit
Californians for Green Nuclear Power, Inc. (CGNP) has been fighting for
the interests of ratepayers and the environment by advocating for the
continued safe operation of Diablo Canyon Power Plant well beyond 2025.
CGNP has learned that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
exhibits many symptoms of "regulatory capture" as special interests
continue to press for the voluntary closure of the highly-functioning
Diablo Canyon Power Plant in 2025. (Please contact CGNP to learn CPUC's
latest bureaucratic trickery in R2011003, the Summer Reliability
Proceeding.) Recall California's rolling blackouts in mid-August 2020.
While solar and wind generation has expanded at high ratepayer cost, they are not on-demand source of energy. With droughts decreasing the reliability of hydro resources, nuclear and geothermal become increasingly more important to prevent California's blackouts.
Recall Texas's rolling blackouts in mid-February 2021. These events are the consequence of reliance on inherently unreliable power generation means (wind, and solar.) Nuclear power is THE reliable power source. CGNP has raised the issues of reliability of California's electricity and gas systems in the face of California-specific seismic hazards before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In response to CGNP's Complaint filed in late October, 2020, FERC opened docket EL21-13-000. This docket remains open. Please see CGNP's website at http://CGNP.org for additional details. Nuclear power advocates need to push back against this self-serving public relations.
Diablo Canyon Historical Performance
1+
Terawatt hours of electricity generation in 2019
1+
tonnes of CO2e emissions avoided per year
1%
of California's reliable carbon-free electricity generation
sub-1
acres of land footprint
Initiatives to save Diablo Canyon
CAISO DISCLOSURE CAMPAIGN, TO REPRESENT CLEAN ENERGY CONTENT VS. "RENEWABLE"
California residents are trying to get California Independent Systems Operator (CAISO) to report total clean energy used in the state. Current reporting shows graphs that show the various types of fuels used to power the grid and a graph of renewables, which excludes the state's largest source of clean energy, Diablo Canyon. This is a deceiving way to inform residents as to what sources contribute to emissions, because much of the generation coming from "renewables" actually comes from burning biofuels, biomass and bio-waste, which are extremely large emitters.
California residents are trying to get California Independent Systems Operator (CAISO) to report total clean energy used in the state. Current reporting shows graphs that show the various types of fuels used to power the grid and a graph of renewables, which excludes the state's largest source of clean energy, Diablo Canyon. This is a deceiving way to inform residents as to what sources contribute to emissions, because much of the generation coming from "renewables" actually comes from burning biofuels, biomass and bio-waste, which are extremely large emitters.