Biden grants PG&E $1.1 billion to maintain Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open

The Biden administration on Monday mentioned it is offering Pacific Fuel & Electrical Co. with a $1.1 billion grant to assist the corporate forestall the closure of Diablo Canyon, California’s final nuclear energy plant.

Diablo Canyon was initially scheduled to be decommissioned in two phases in 2024 and 2025, however state lawmakers in September voted to maintain it open for 5 extra years. PG&E utilized for funding within the Division of Vitality’s preliminary part of the $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit score program aimed to maintain U.S. nuclear energy reactors open.

The conditional funding, which comes from the bipartisan infrastructure regulation handed by Congress final yr, creates a path ahead for Diablo Canyon to stay open and will enable PG&E to pay again a number of the $1.4 billion mortgage for the plant that lawmakers authorized.

Diablo Canyon is California’s single largest supply of energy, offering 8.6% of the state’s whole electrical energy and 17% of its zero-carbon electrical energy. It has helped the state grapple with energy shortages as temperatures in California proceed to rise and warmth waves develop extra intense with local weather change.

“It is a important step towards making certain that our home nuclear fleet will proceed offering dependable and reasonably priced energy to Individuals because the nation’s largest supply of fresh electrical energy,” Vitality Secretary Jennifer Granholm mentioned in a press release.

Nonetheless, critics of Diablo Canyon have identified that the plant, which is positioned subsequent to the Pacific Ocean in San Luis Obispo County, is weak to earthquakes and that there isn’t any everlasting waste disposal answer. 

Remaining phrases of the grant are topic to negotiation and finalization, the Vitality Division mentioned, however the funding is designed to cowl PG&E’s anticipated losses from holding Diablo Canyon open. Not each plant that utilized to the Vitality Division’s program is receiving funding on this preliminary part.

The Biden administration has argued that nuclear energy is important to combating local weather change and to serving to it obtain its dedication of 100% clear electrical energy by 2035 and a net-zero emissions financial system by 2050.

“Nuclear power will assist us meet President Biden’s local weather objectives, and with these historic investments in clear power, we will defend these services and the communities they serve,” Granholm mentioned.

Nuclear energy gives 50% of the nation’s carbon-free electrical energy, however shifting power markets and different financial components have resulted within the early closures of 13 business reactors since 2013, the Vitality Division mentioned.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., mentioned in a press release that holding the Diablo Canyon plant open is important for the state to satisfy its clear power objectives whereas persevering with to provide dependable energy. Feinstein mentioned she would monitor the funding course of to make sure strict security and environmental evaluations are undertaken on the federal and state ranges.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom mentioned in a press release that the grant will present a limited-term extension of the plant and “assist reliability statewide and supply an onramp for extra clear power tasks to return on-line.”