PG&E: Here’s why the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is good for California | Opinion
For nearly four decades, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant has been the backbone of California’s clean energy ambitions.
Today, Diablo Canyon — California’s only operating nuclear power plant — generates roughly 9% of California’s electricity, enough to meet the energy needs of more than 3 million people. All of this is clean, zero-emission, carbon-free energy. In fact, every year it operates, Diablo Canyon saves between 6 to 7 million tons of greenhouse gasses from entering the atmosphere compared to other generation sources.
In recent weeks, a lot has been said about the cost of keeping Diablo Canyon operating. I believe Californians deserve a full accounting of both the costs and financial benefits of operating California’s largest source of clean energy.
Opinion
The math is clear that keeping Diablo Canyon open through 2030 will not only ensure that California can keep the lights on without backsliding on its climate goals, it will also save customers $200 million per year on average — or more than $1 billion — over the duration of the extended operations period.
Here’s how things break down:
Operating Diablo Canyon from 2024 to 2030 will cost roughly $8.3 billion dollars, $1.2 billion of which is being paid for by state and federal programs. That leaves a remaining $7.1 billion that will be paid by customers over the six-year period in question.
For the average customer in PG&E’s service area, this works out to roughly $2 per month in 2025. The cost is significantly less for customers in Southern California, and the cost for all customers is expected to decrease significantly in the later years — to $0 in some years — of the plant’s extended operations.
These costs represent only one side of the financial equation. There are significant financial benefits for customers that come from extended operations of the plant, and when you add everything up, Diablo Canyon’s revenues and reliability value will be more than $8.2 billion — more than $1.1 billion higher than the operating costs to be paid by customers.
Here’s how:
The energy generated by Diablo Canyon will generate market revenues to the tune of $6.1 billion, 100% of which must be returned to customers to offset the costs of operations.
In addition, operating Diablo Canyon means that energy companies won’t be required to sign new and costly energy contracts to ensure that California’s grid can maintain electric reliability during periods of extreme demand. This reliability value comes out to roughly $2.1 billion in additional value, which is used to offset customers’ energy costs.
Simply put, Diablo is the most affordable way to maintain reliability. And, according to the California Energy Commission, the only resource available that wouldn’t rely on harmful fossil fuels to generate that power.
Together, these revenues and reliability values means California energy customers will see a net benefit of roughly $200 million per year on average.
But Diablo Canyon’s value doesn’t stop there. As aforementioned, Diablo Canyon saves between 6 to 7 million tons of greenhouse gasses from entering the atmosphere. These avoided emissions have societal benefits that can be quantified through things like avoided health care costs, agriculture impacts, medical expenses and impacts to the labor field and broader economy. For Diablo Canyon, the societal benefit of avoided greenhouse gas emissions has been pegged at nearly $400 million per year.
These figures, paired with the fact that keeping Diablo Canyon online prevents the state backsliding on its clean energy goals by having to integrate more fossil fuel generation into its energy, make Diablo Canyon a sound investment for all Californians — one that saves customers money and benefits society while keeping the lights on.
Maureen Zawalick is the vice president of business and technical services at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant.