California votes to save its last nuclear power plant to stave off green energy shortfalls

Wikimedia Commons/Tracey Adams

“We are behind where we need to be in bringing our clean resources online, to ensure that we can retire the Diablo Canyon plant,” said California Department of Finance director Ana Matosantos.

By Jack McEvoy

California’s legislature voted overnight to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, the state’s last nuclear power plant, open for another five years beyond its previously scheduled shutdown.

More than two-thirds of California’s assembly and Senate passed Senate Bill 846 early Thursday morning to extend the plant’s operation until 2030, according to state legislature voting records. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom originally proposed keeping the plant open as delays in green energy production and heat waves could push power demand beyond available electricity supplies, causing blackouts and energy shortages, according to an Aug. 12 webinar hosted by the California Energy Commission.

California government officials explained that green energy developments aimed at replacing the nuclear plant’s output are slowing due to supply chain issues during the webinar.

“We are behind where we need to be in bringing our clean resources online, to ensure that we can retire the Diablo Canyon plant,” said  California Department of Finance director Ana Matosantos. “This is something that we think is necessary to maintain reliability, necessary to make our transition.”

Newsom’s plan will also give Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), the state’s largest power company, a $1.4 billion forgivable loan to continue running the nuclear plant.

California is accelerating its plans to transition to a green energy economy and meet its targets to produce 100% of its energy from ‘clean’ sources by 2045, according to the California Energy Commission. However, the state does not currently have enough lithium-ion battery storage to completely supply its grid with wind and solar power, according to the LA Times.

The state is currently facing severe energy shortages and residents are being urged to curb energy consumption to prevent power outages, according to an announcement made by a major California state-run grid operator.

“We remain focused on continuing to provide reliable, low-cost, carbon-free energy to the people of California, while safely operating one of the top-performing plants in the country,” said PG&E in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Tracey Adams

One thought on “California votes to save its last nuclear power plant to stave off green energy shortfalls

  1. We need More nuclear power.. not acres covered in solar panels that we are going to regret when we begin recycling them, trying too.. same this with these shocking intrusive bird killing windmills.
    Nuclear power is not what it used to be..and imagine the developments that could be made if we got Elon Musk on this, or people like him.

    This comment came up in NH on this topic and it’s worth knowing about.

    “There are neighborhood nuclear power plant designs that won’t ever get built because of the regulatory mess created by Congress and the DoE, plus ideologues in state agencies. You could have a small generator – the size of a 21 cu foot chest freezer in your garage that powers an entire town. When it is depleted in 20 years, a truck pulls up, swaps out the chest for a new one, starts it up, and takes the old one back for reprocessing. This could have been done 20 years ago if we had the will to do it.”

    So would you rather do that ^^^ or keep building at looking at miles of solar and wind?
    And tell me, just how educated is the public about the advancements in nuclear?
    Do you see how destructive it is to no have an intelligent electorate that is truly up to speed on all that is going on out there- as opposed to what is spoon fed to people by a sold out media… SMH

    H/T Bryan W

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