Biden administration finalizes a $1.1 billion aid package for California's last nuclear power plant
ABC News
The Biden administration has finalized approval of $1.1 billion to help keep California’s last operating nuclear power plant running
LOS ANGELES -- President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday finalized approval of $1.1 billion to help keep California’s last operating nuclear power plant running.
The funding is a financial pillar in the plan to keep the Diablo Canyon Power Plant producing electricity to at least 2030 — five years beyond its planned closing.
Terms of the aid package were not released by the Energy Department.
In 2016, plant operator Pacific Gas & Electric, environmental groups and plant worker unions reached an agreement to close the four-decade-old reactors by 2025. But the Legislature voided the deal in 2022 at the urging of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said the power is needed to ward off blackouts as climate change stresses the energy system.
California is the birthplace of the modern environmental movement and for decades has had a fraught relationship with nuclear power. Environmentalists argued California has adequate power without the reactors and that their continued operation could hinder development of new sources of clean energy. They also warn that long-delayed testing on one of the reactors poses a safety risk that could result in an accident, a claim disputed by PG&E.
