Battle Brewing About California’s Role in Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Retirement

Non-profit Californians for Green Nuclear Power, or "CGNP", has filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) charging several California agencies with failing to consider potential consequences of the shutdown of Diablo Canyon Power Plant.

Its genesis seems to be grid outages that occurred in August-September. After Gov. Newsom demanded an explanation, California's Public Utility Commission responded with a preliminary assessment laying the blame at the feet of "poor planning". The report suggested a host of piecemeal measures that wouldn't solve the problem, but might make it less likely to occur.

For California business owners, that wasn't good enough. There's no reason utility customers with rates among the highest in the U.S. should have to put up with unreliable electricity, they argue, and the 2025 shutdown of Diablo Canyon would only make things worse. After years of inaction on the part of state officials in a state rife with natural gas influence, CGNP seems to have recognized the futility of local efforts - and gone to the top. And now, California agencies are paying attention.