Edhat Staff
By the edhat staff
The California State Senate will hold a special hearing on Thursday to discuss extending operations at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant past its planned 2025 decommissioning.
Governor Gavin Newsom released a proposal earlier this month that would would allocate up to $1.4 billion for a forgivable loan to PG&E to keep Diablo Canyon running another five to 10 years.
This week, members of the California State Assembly released a counter-proposal to allocate $1.4 billion as a “clean, diverse, safe and reliable energy proposal.” It aims to boost renewable energy development, procurement and transmission to account for reliability gaps in the state’s electricity grid to pickup the slack left by Diablo and other power plants. It also will reduce hydropower production, due to the drought, propose another $900 million to establish an electric ratepayer relief fund, and $2.827 billion in pending budget appropriations to increase clean-energy incentives funding and programs.
In response to these proposals, nine Central Coast mayors drafted a letter to Gov. Newsom to create a “unified voice” and share requests to be included in any legislation relating to Diablo Canyon.
The mayors of Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Grover Beach, Lompoc. Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Maria outlined nine points in their letter, the first emphasizing safety for their communities.
Additional points included making the license extension a limited-term with sufficient replacement energy, investment in renewable energy, use of local labor, safe solution for long-term storage of spent fuel stored at the facility, and land preservation.
“We urge the Governor’s Office to partner with our region and invest in renewable energy opportunities now and remove regulatory barriers that hinder the deployment of renewable energy such as wind, solar, geothermal, battery storage, etc.,” the mayors’ letter reads. “These opportunities include our Clean Tech Innovation Park Concept with Cal Poly as well as the development of offshore wind in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area.”
District Representative Greg Haas with Representative Salud Carbajal expressed the legislator’s support.
“Congressman Carbajal believes strongly there is a resolution that can be reached on this issue that does not jeopardize California’s energy reliability, nor endanger future clean energy ventures that we have on the way here on the Central Coast, like the first-in-the-West offshore wind project, which is slated for lease sale off the Morro Bay coast later this year. … If there is a change to the last sunset agreement, it should not be at the detriment of future clean energy projects that literally cannot get online without the eventual closure of Diablo Canyon,” said Haas.
Diablo Canyon currently generates about 8.6% of the state’s total electricity supply and is the state’s last remaining nuclear power plant.
Public comment is being encouraged at this time and will be accepted through August 31.
Chase the wisp. Nuclear plants are seductive in their promise but beget monsters. This plant in old and has a long history of dangerous damage. It is not getting healthier or safer. Keeping it on line is just rolling the dice against increasing house odds. We need to cut our losses (and this place has been a loss for everyone except the engineers and companies that sell us on the lie). Time to move on and invest in clearly better and safer alternatives with the money that it will cost to patch and paste this place.
Electricity use always is increasing so I doubt there will ever be a convenient time to shut it down even as renewables grow.
Ticking diaster…
PBS , Diablo and fault lines
https://www.pbs.org/video/need-to-know-diablo-canyon/
Let’s take that 1.4 billion and instead produce Clean Utility Scale mWave™ projects generating Gigawatts of power and deliver utility scale energy solutions. Wave Energy is 24/7 with added energy from Wind.
https://www.inspireoffshoreenergy.com/
https://bomborawave.com/energy-solutions/
Bombora
https://bomborawave.com/
The theoretical annual energy potential of waves off the coasts of the United States is estimated to be as much as 2.64 trillion kilowatthours, or the equivalent of about 66% of U.S. electricity generation in 2020. The west coasts of the United States and Europe, and the coasts of Japan and New Zealand, have potential sites for harnessing wave energy.
EIA
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/hydropower/wave-power.php
other wave companies
CalWave…
https://calwave.energy/projects/
SeaBased
https://seabased.com/seabased-wave-power-parks
Havkraft ….view how it works a the 6minute point, but overal video good
https://havkraft.no/tedtalk/
https://havkraft.no/products/
Ocean Energy Europe report 2020
https://www.oceanenergy-europe.eu/category/publication-library/
Ocean Energy Systems OES
https://www.ocean-energy-systems.org/
webinar
https://www.ocean-energy-systems.org/webinar/ocean-energy-outlook-in-usa-canada-and-mexico/
ETIP Ocean is a recognized advisory body to the European Commission, part of the EU’s main Research and Innovation policy the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan).ETIP Ocean brings together around 1000 experts from 150 organisations covering the entire European ocean energy sector.
https://www.etipocean.eu/
pace wave project off oregon, 25 year lease
http://pacwaveenergy.org/
wave lease
https://www.boem.gov/boem-issues-lease-first-wave-energy-research-project-federal-waters
Moving towards microgrids is key, this allows for a more efficient energy systems. When one area goes out the whole system does not go down. The small the microgridgs, the greater the efficiency. Wave energy could be part of the green energy solution.
micro grids
https://gridintegration.lbl.gov/microgrids-vehicle-grid-integration
https://gridintegration.lbl.gov/
https://gridintegration.lbl.gov/der-electricity-market-participation
California already imports about 1/3 of its power from out of state. If Diablo canyon is shut down, that portion will be getting closer to half, and even more when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Intermittent energy sources like wind and solar simply can’t replace coal, gas and nuclear power. Since california is unwilling to produce its own power, I suspect we will see a lot of new lines constructed running across the state line to new power plants. If “renewable” energy really worked, the government wouldn’t have to mandate it or subsidize it.
Between 2005 and 2020 the US reduced its CO2 emissions by 22%. Natural gas replacing coal accounted for 61% of that reduction. Until we can shut down the coal plants, let alone all carbon producing generation, and replace it with *reliable* green generation it is asinine and worse for the environment to close down a already built and functioning nuclear reactor.
@ vor ‘ it is asinine and worse for the environment to close down a already built and functioning nuclear reactor.”
Unless of course you stop to take into consideration the Shoreline fault discovered in 2008 by USGS ….the Shoreline fault is a vertical strike‐slip fault running along the coastline near San Luis Obispo, California …the Shoreline fault is a single continuous structure that intersects with the Hosgri fault.. The Hosgri fault discovered when Diablo was being built 3 miles off shore runs 170 miles along California Central Coast and could rupture along the entire length add the shoreline fault, it would create a quake that would exceed Diablio’s safety model… what is particularly ALARMING to USGS is that the conditions are strikingly similar to Fukushima…In Fukushima March 11, 2011 the 9.0 earthquake took seismologists by surprise it was allot larger than thought possible.
If we truly were facing a ‘climate apocalypse’ as so many claim, there wouldn’t be any talk of shutting down nuclear plants. If the apocalypse truly is coming we should keep it on. If you want to shut it down the the claims of climate apocalypse are overblown.
Engineers should be in charge of energy policy instead of politicians. We need at least 5 more Diablo Canyons in order to electrify the state.
Agreed. They also want no more gas anything sooner than the infrastructure can possibly support it. They already can’t!
Fission power is not a viable solution. It is dangerous, hideously expensive, and too slow to come online. Anyone with an engineering background not rooted in unrealistic fantasies can see that.
10:08, the main reason nuclear power plants are hideously expensive and too slow to come online is politicians. The regulatory instability created by politicians also discourages investment in this technology.
Dumb and Dumber. Decommissioning a perfectly good nuclear plant with no plan “B,” resulting in over a $1 Billion in annual loss to the local economy. Where are we supposed to get the extra power, from renewables? Not to mention power all the impact of electric cars as now mandated in 2035.
All this affecting our grid and economy with no legislative debate, no consent of the voter, merely decided by unelected bureaucrats.
Even France has enough sense to develop and take advantage of clean, efficient, nuclear power.
There’s no such thing as clean, efficient fission power. You’ve swallowed the propaganda. Nuclear fission plants are dangerous, hugely expensive, and slow to come on line. They are a vestige of our ignorant past, as are carbon fuels.
Yes, it’s always others following propaganda, couldn’t possibly be you following the anti-nuclear propaganda. Nope that can’t be it…