By Camas Frank ~
On June 28 the California State Lands Commission unanimously approved lease extensions that were a key part of the recently proposed plan to shutdown Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.
Representatives of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility and San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace had asked the Commission to hold off on approval until an updated Environmental Impact Report was conducted.
Mothers for Peace spokeswoman Jane Swanson said the organization was “disappointed” in the Commission’s decision to renew leases, which are necessary for the Plant’s cooling system, without the study. She added that the organization was seeking legal advice on how to be a part of the upcoming California Public Utilities Commission review of the Joint Proposal that Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) had reached with several organizations last month.
PG&E, represented at the Lands Commission meeting by their Electric Division President, Geisha Williams, noted that the lease extension was necessary to run the Diablo through 2025.
The company’s announcement called it a, “critical first step toward realizing the historic clean energy plan jointly proposed by PG&E, labor and leading environmental organizations.”
And, in a press statement following the meeting Williams said, “We thank the commissioners for their leadership and their support, without which this historic proposal could not move forward. While there is much more work to do, today’s vote was a critical first step.”
The extensions run from 2018 through 2025 and were taken as a given in the proposal for the shut down and terminated relicensing of the Diablo’s two nuclear reactors. PG&E worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends Of The Earth, the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, Environment California and PG&E affiliated labor unions to address concerns related to the decommissioning.
Mothers for Peace, and several smaller local organizations, including Californians for Green Nuclear Power, were not invited to the talks, a fact Swanson said they were, “not disappointed in.”
“As far as we’re concerned the results of the Joint Proposal are a victory,” that was, she added, in terms of the utility’s embrace of renewable resources and reactor shutdown. “It’s fine that we weren’t invited because we never would have signed off on nine more years.”
That said, they’re not eager to jeopardize the Joint Agreement when it comes to the Utilities Commission.
The proposed transition to renewables is largely made an economic necessity for the utility through California legal mandates that affect all such companies, however PG&E has gone further than required via a commitment to a 55 percent renewable energy target in 2031.
Processes with the Utilities Commission will include a lot of corporate accountancy work to verify costs and determine that investment obligations will have been met by 2025.
