California Lawmakers Extend the Life of the State's Last Nuclear Power Plant
Citing searing summer temperatures and expected energy shortages, California lawmakers approved legislation aimed at extending the life of the state's last-operating nuclear power plant. From a report: The Diablo Canyon plant -- the state's largest single source of electricity -- had been slated to shutter by 2025. The last-minute proposal passed by the state legislature early Thursday could keep it open five years longer, in part by giving the plant's owner, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), a $1.4 billion forgivable loan. California, like other U.S. states and countries, has been struggling to reduce its climate-warming emissions while adapting to a rapidly warming world. Record-breaking heat waves have stressed the state's increasingly carbon-free electrical grid in recent years, triggering rolling blackouts as recently as 2020. Grid operators, fearing a similar crash, issued a statewide alert to conserve energy last month. The state has set the goal of getting 100 percent of its electricity from clean and renewable sources by 2045. Advocates for Diablo Canyon claim that target will be difficult to achieve without the 2,250 megawatt nuclear power plant. Diablo Canyon generated nearly 9 percent of the state's electricity last year and roughly 15 percent of the state's clean energy production. Maintaining operations at Diablo Canyon will keep our power on while preventing millions of tons of carbon from being released into the atmosphere," said Isabelle Boemeke of the group Save Clean Energy. "This is a true win-win for the people of California and our planet." Nuclear power has seen a resurgence in recent years as the climate crisis has worsened and governments increase efforts to cut climate-warming emissions. The Biden administration launched a $6 billion effort earlier this year aimed at keeping the country's aging nuclear plants running.
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