PG&E hopes Diablo Canyon can Operate Past 2030. So do 3 SLO County Supervisors

Source: The Tribune |  By The Editorial Board

Estimates of the cost of operating Diablo Canyon past 2025 differ dramatically. Rushing to give the plant a blessing to stay open for 20 more years — without knowing what that might entail — may be great for PG&E, but not so great for the beleaguered ratepayers of California. The Board of Supervisors should keep that in mind before choosing sides.

PG&E has approximated the cost of running the plant until 2030 at about $5 billion, according to TURN, a utility watchdog group. TURN claims that “significantly understates the true costs of continued operation of DCPP,” according to testimony it submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission. It says the cost will likely be closer to $10 billion. “PG&E’s estimate excludes a wide range of costs,” TURN’s staff attorney Matthew Freedman said. “They arbitrarily limited the scope of costs by just ignoring a whole lot of things.” Those include administrative costs, such as legal and financial services; retention bonuses for employees; $300 million to be set aside to pay for replacement power in case the plant goes offline; and $100 million per year in guaranteed profits, he said.  TURN has no estimate beyond 2030, though the Environmental Working Group, which opposes continued operation of the plant, has estimated that keeping Diablo online through 2045 could add from $55 to $124 a year to the typical utility bill.