Progress towards a Diablo Canyon Extension to 2045
The momentum continues to build
As an introduction, here is the text of my recently published letter to the editor (LTE.) On 02 July 2026, I submitted a longer OpEd which also criticized the State of California’s effort in January 2026 to sideline CGNP’s draft legislation to extend Diablo Canyon’s operations to 2045 and restore unitary taxation funds to government entities in the County of San Luis Obispo (SLO.) The criticism was edited out, yielding the LTE below.
Proud Member of Diablo 2045 First LTE published in SLO Tribune print edition with a photo of the plant on 07 19 26
The SLO Tribune remains an amplifier for voices of those opposed to the continued safe operation of Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP.) Your July 1, 2026 editorial, “Why SLO County should not be a cheerleader for Diablo Canyon and PG&E.” is no exception. The headline uncritically repeats an opposition talking point.
As an advocate for extended DCPP operations well beyond 2045, I wish that the SLO Tribune offered clear evidence of their bold assertion that, “Approval is practically in the bag.”
Sacramento-based opposition remains from Senator John Laird and Assembly Member Dawn Addis. Locally, the label, “unrelenting critic” for supervisor Dr. Bruce Gibson, whose Ph.D. is in oil exploration geology, seems spot-on.
[The first paragraph was inadvertently repeated.]
CGNP (Californians for Green Nuclear Power) rebuts the appeals to emotion advanced by DCPP opponents with factual arguments. As an intervenor serving the public interest, we’ve filed thousands of pages of written testimony before regulatory and oversight bodies like the CPUC. We write letters to the editor and op-eds. CGNP’s GreenNUKE Substack now includes over fifty fact-packed articles. Since 2017, we have operated a booth at the SLO Downtown Farmer’s Market to answer questions from the public. We are not funded by PG&E.
CGNP proudly joined the Diablo Canyon 2045 coalition. We will be a supporter of legislation in Sacramento to extend Diablo Canyon operations to 2045. Furthermore, we are grateful the County of San Luis Obispo has joined the coalition.
Gene Nelson, Arroyo Grande
__________________
The most significant development during the past week is the publication on 05 August 2026 of a four-page open letter directed to the Governor and California legislature by the Diablo Canyon 2045 coalition. This coalition now consists of 47 organizations, 79 local elected officials, and 2 County Boards of Supervisors that have joined together to urge lawmakers to extend Diablo Canyon Power Plant to 2045 to save Californians more than $1 billion per year and support California’s transition to clean energy. This letter is available in multiple publications and from the coalition’s website. The copy below includes the text of the press release on the final page.
Here’s a report from the local television station KSBY TV-6 regarding the 30 July Community Forum at the County of San Luis Obispo County Government Center regarding Diablo Canyon. I was one of the participants interviewed. The SLO Tribune’s much longer article regarding the Community Forum was published on 05 August 2026.
There were a pair of documents regarding the benefits of Diablo Canyon extended operations that were discussed at the 30 July 2026 Community Forum. Quoting from the summary of the results of John Parsons, Ph.D.’s report regarding the economic benefits of extending Diablo Canyon’s operations to 2045,:
“Extending the life of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant to 2045 can help reduce the cost of California’s electricity. The plant provides reliable capacity which is a valuable contribution to California’s system. It displaces capacity from existing natural gas power plants, offers California the opportunity to deploy instate renewable resources more economically, and delays the need for costly transmission upgrades. The amount of savings depends upon the portfolio of resources California relies on in the absence of DCPP.
At a minimum, continued operation of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant from 2030 to 2045 earns savings net of capital and operating costs totaling more than $7.6 billion in present value, or more than $500 million per year of continued operations.
The savings more than double when calculated relative to the current portfolio of alternatives mandated pursuant to Assembly Bill 1373 (AB 1373). In that case, the total present value of savings for extending the life of DCPP exceed $20 billion, or more than $1.3 billion per year.”
Since this is an economic analysis, it does not include power engineering concerns regarding the significance of Diablo Canyon maintaining adequate synchronous grid inertia for the California power grid to keep the lights on. The CEEPR report text follows.
Diablo Canyon’s owner, Pacific Gas & Electric also commissioned a report regarding the economic benefits of Diablo Canyon extended operations. Quoting from the summary section of this report:
DCCP and the San Luis Obispo Economy
Given that facility spending is concentrated almost entirely within San Luis Obispo
County, it comes as no surprise that the largest effects are to be seen here. In Table ES1, total value added or Gross State Product (GSP) from the sector is estimated at roughly $317 million per year, while the impact on overall SLO GSP is estimated to be $420 million per year. The largest impacted sectors are spread across those affected from payrolls, nonlabor input demand, etc. Most of the multiplier effects are induced ($100 million) rather than indirect (about $3 million), passing through payrolls and contracting to local real estate and other services (e.g. homeownership and real estate, restaurants, medical). This imbalance is to be expected for a highly specialized technical facility like DCPP, where payrolls are the primary linkage to local markets, and it highlights the importance of recognizing so called general equilibrium economic impacts.
Here’s the PG&E report text which shows on Table 3.11 the estimated annual statewide beneficial economic impact of $ 901,269,558 for Diablo Canyon extended operations :
Big Progress on Repaying the State of California $1.4B Loan
One of the factors which facilitated Diablo Canyon extended operations which was discussed in the above PG&E report was the positive influence of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) program. This program provided direct economic support to nuclear power plants threatened with a risk of closure as a consequence of adverse operational economics. I am also aware that plant opponents were misrepresenting the funding status of the DCPP CNP program by likely reporting the total owed to the State of California after only two years of CNC support.
Here’s the email I sent the CNC program on 09 July 2026:
From: government [at] cgnp [dot] org
Sent: Thursday, July 9, 2026 1:42 PM
To: CNC_Program_Mailbox <cnc_program_mailbox [at] hq [dot] doe [dot] gov>
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Request for Confirmation the CNC Mailbox Remains Operational
Hello CNC. I’m glad the CNC is interested in my questions regarding Diablo Canyon. Below, I’ve cited an extract from a 3 January 2024 article in Power Magazine. I follow the extract with four questions. I’m looking forward to promptly receiving this information. I note a delay of almost three weeks in responding to my initial question.
“DOE Awards Civil Nuclear Credits to Diablo Canyon,” Sonal C. Patel, 3 January 2024, Power Magazine. https://www.powermag.com/doe-awards-civil-nuclear-credits-to-diablo-canyon/
Redemption Agreement:
...under the terms of a redemption agreement, which essentially specifies a megawatt-hour production commitment for four award years (2023–2026).
DCPP was set to receive a maximum credit value of up to
$269 million in 2023,
$267 million in 2024,
$276 million in 2025,
and $289 million in 2026.....
The total is $1.101 billion.
1. What were the annual megawatt-hour commitments for each year?
2. Have those commitments met in 2023, 2024, and 2025?
3. What were the amounts awarded by the DoE in 2023, 2024, and 2025?
4. Is Diablo Canyon on track to receive $289 million for 2026?
Here is the CNC Program’s 04 August 2026 response:
Hello,
See the answers to your questions in italic text -
1. What were the annual megawatt-hour commitments for each year?
Award Year (AY) 2023 17,745,276 MWh,
AY 2024 Credits 18,109,131 MWh,
AY 2025 Credits 16,467,318 MWh, and
AY 2026 Credits 18,078,023 MWh.
2. Have those commitments met in 2023, 2024, and 2025?
AY2023 net generation was 17,745,276 MWh which meets the commitment of 17,745,276 MWh
AY2024 net generation was 18,378,835 MWh electric which exceeds the 2024 commitment of 18,109,131 MWh.
AY2025- 17,595,261 MWh electric which exceeds the 2025 commitment of 16,467,318 MWh.
3. What were the amounts awarded by the DoE in 2023, 2024, and 2025?
No funds have been awarded to date. Unit 1 is expected to be awarded funds in the next several months. Unit 2 will be awarded funds in 2025 (sic) after DOE completes their internal audit of Diablo Canyon.
4. Is Diablo Canyon on track to receive $289 million for 2026?
This hasn’t been determined yet. DOE awaiting record submissions from Diablo Canyon, which are due in early 2027 and then will be audited by DOE in 2027.
Thank you,
CNC Program
To summarize, Diablo Canyon has already generated the electric power to satisfy the redemption agreements for award years 2023, 2024, and 2025, yielding $812 million in satisfied redemption agreements. Since 2026 is not yet complete, we will need to wait until after 31 December 2026 to determine if adequate power has been generated. Diablo Canyon’s recent generation history suggests that the 2026 redemption agreement for an additional $289 million will be satisfied. As noted above, the total is $1.101 billion. Since the State of California loan to PG&E for Diablo Canyon is for $1.4 billion, $299 million remains to be repaid. CGNP believes that an appropriate mechanism to repay the remaining $299 million (less than $20 million repayment per year during 15 years) to the State of California would be via employing Diablo Canyon’s “millage” during the 2030 - 2045 extended operations period. The ratepayer impact would be barely detectable.
The challenge is that we have only about 3 weeks and 3 days to get the important Diablo Canyon extension legislation passed during the 2026 legislative session.
Diablo Canyon also provides synchronous grid stability, which solar and wind cannot provide. April 28, 2025, Spain’s grid collapsed for up to 16 hours due to insufficient grid stability which is provided by spinning generators which may weigh hundreds of tons and provide the mechanical flywheels that maintain 60 cycle AC power accurately as loads are added or taken off the grid. The electronics which convert direct current from solar, wind, or batteries to grid alternating current (AC) can follow the AC but cannot effectively provide grid inertia. The grid has thousands of power sources and loads. Safety equipment on each of these will disconnect from the grid if voltage or AC frequency strays beyond narrow limits to protect the local system. Without enough large mechanical spinning generators to provide mechanical to electrical inertia, normal load fluctuations will cause one or more local systems to disconnect. This fails faster than dominoes failing and rapidly disconnects all the power sources from the grid. This is nerdy knowledge and does not contribute to the most important job in politics: reelection. Thus, in Spain many explanations have been proposed for April 28, 2025, no one wants to take responsibility for this gigantic design failure.