ENB Publishers Note: This is one of the first good energy policies that I have heard out of California. I had to re-read, print, and have it read to me just so I could believe it. I will say a good job, Governer Newsom, as this is the only good thing I have heard from him.
Much to the annoyance of some ideological environmentalists, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed keeping open, rather than shutting down, the state’s last nuclear power plant. Last week, the governor’s office sent draft legislation to help keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear facility in San Luis Obispo County, slated to be shut down in 2025, open.
Under the proposal, Diablo Canyon could be kept open for an additional decade and the state would provide plant-operator PG&E a forgivable loan to cover the cost of the plant’s license-renewal process and maintenance.
The governor deserves credit for recognizing the need to be pragmatic about pursuing a greener energy future. The governor has realized that allowing the nuclear plant, which provides about 8% of the state’s electricity, to continue operating will do more good than harm at this time and that the planned shutdown of the plant would do more harm than good.
“The governor supports keeping all options on the table as we build out our plan to ensure reliable energy this summer and beyond,” Erin Mellin, the governor’s spokesperson, told Politico on Friday in a statement. “This includes considering a limited term extension of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, which continues to be an important resource as we transition away from fossil fuel generation to greater amounts of clean energy, with the goal of achieving 100 percent clean electric retail sales by 2045.”
There’s nothing objectionable about that statement.
Last year, researchers from MIT and Stanford found that “delaying the retirement of Diablo Canyon to 2035 would reduce California power sector carbon emissions by more than 10% from 2017 levels and reduce reliance on gas,” as well as save billions of dollars in power system costs.
Yet Newsom’s announcement drew anger from enviros at Environment California, Friends of the Earth and the Natural Resources Defense Council, which issued a joint statement denouncing the proposal to keep Diablo Canyon open as “a dangerous and costly distraction.”
This sort of hysterical rhetoric should be ignored. If California is going to try and lead the country on renewable energy, there’s nothing wrong with buying time as renewable energy technology improves.
Source: Orange County
