Diablo Canyon boosts local economy by nearly $1 billion, PG&E says

October 17, 2013

Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power PlantBy JOSH FRIEDMAN

The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant contributes approximately $920 million annually to the economies of San Luis Obispo and northern Santa Barbara Counties, according to a report commissioned by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

PG&E submitted the report, authored by the Nuclear Energy Institute and Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business, to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors Tuesday. The county is considering the impact that a closure of Diablo Canyon would have on the local economy.

Supervisor Adam Hill, whose district includes Diablo Canyon, said it is inevitable that the power plant will close at some point in the future.

“There is an inevitable transition in our economy at some point with the closing of Diablo Canyon, whenever that occurs,” Hill said. “But, the only way that you can actually plan for it is basically to continue to strengthen your economy now.”

Diablo Canyon is licensed through 2025, but it must gain approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate the plant beyond then. PG&E is seeking a 20-year extension to its license.

With the permanent closure of the San Onofre plant earlier this year, Diablo Canyon is the only operating nuclear power plant in California.

The Nuclear Energy Institute and Cal Poly report states that Diablo Canyon generates 22 percent of the electricity that PG&E supplies across the state.

The plant also generates $25.4 million in tax revenue for local government agencies, $6.7 million of which goes to the county general fund. $9.2 million of Diablo Canyon’s taxes go to the San Luis Coastal Unified School District, accounting for about 12 percent of the district’s budget.

Diablo Canyon is the largest private employer in the county. The plant employs 1,543 employees statewide, 1,483 of whom live in San Luis Obispo County.

 


Loading...
19 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Great article:

Flare-up: How the Sun Could Put an End to Nuclear Power

http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/ei

BY GAR SMITH

snip

Solar energy may soon eclipse nuclear power – only not in the way we hoped. According to NASA, the planet will soon face an outbreak of powerful solar flares capable of collapsing global power grids. Were this to happen, the world’s nuclear reactors could be left to run wild, overheat, melt, and explode.

The sun’s magnetic cycle peaks every 22 years while sunspot activity crests every 11 years. Both events are set to peak in 2013. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) trigger geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs) – tides of high-energy particles that can disrupt power lines. Since the 1970s, the array of high-voltage transmission lines spanning the US has grown tenfold. NASA warns these interconnected networks can be energized by a solar flare, causing “an avalanche of blackouts carried across continents [that] … could last for weeks to months.” A National Academy of Sciences report estimates a “century-class” solar storm could cause 20 times the damage as Hurricane Katrina while “full recovery could take four to ten years.”


+


Ask about EPA Restoring US Protection Action Guides (PAGs) limits to pre-President G. W. Bush levels ASAP.

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/01/21-0


Remember when BOTH CA reactors were off line, CA had no energy problems or brownout because CA has at least a 20% SURPLUS and that number is growing daily as ever more people install Solar (of all flavors)…


Don’t be fooled by industry hype that nuclear is somehow needed….

What is really needed in CA is to get rid to the enormous RISK of a Fukushima which could cause a Trillion Dollar Eco-Disaster like Fukushima…


Where would you relocate to? There are still about 200,000 still homeless in japan because of fukushima!