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SLO County could lose $85 million Diablo Canyon settlement

November 9, 2017

An administrative law judge for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a proposed ruling against the settlement agreement between PG&E and local government agencies over the expected closure of Diablo Canyon. The agreement that is now at risk of being overturned calls for PG&E to dole out $85 million as compensation for lost tax revenue because of the closure of the power plant. [Cal Coast Times]

Currently, the San Luis Coastal Unified School District stands to lose the most money, with the district being slated to receive $36.8 million as part of the settlement. San Luis Obispo County was due to received $3.8 million, while SLO County cities were in line to receive as much as $1.8 million.

As proposed, the settlement hinges on a PG&E rate hike, which Administrative Law Judge Peter V. Allen said contradicts general rate making principles and public utility law. Allen issued a proposed ruling Wednesday, which the CPUC board will consider at an upcoming hearing.

“The question before this commission is not whether there will be economic impacts, or even the potential size and scope of those impacts, but rather whether PG&E ratepayers should pay to mitigate these impacts,” Allen stated. “This commission is reluctant to require ratepayers to pay for the cost of local government services that are typically paid for by taxpayers, no matter how beneficial those services may be. Absent legislative authorization, utility rates should be used to provide utility services, not government services.”

Read entire article on Cal Coast Times.


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Another example of a government shakedown. When are we as a state going to wake up and make our politicians accountable for the destruction of our once wonderful state.


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I live close to a school and I have seen first hand how our tax dollars are wasted. At the end of the school year large dumpsters filled with reams of paper that had never been opened,crayons,pencils,cameras you name it and was in the dumpster a generator lost whe questioned their answer was if we save it will be less money we get next year. I saw the same thing in the military. Aw it is only tax money there always more where that came from.


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My wife was a school teacher and I heard it for 30 years.


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Just seems funny to me, we make them close Diablo, they pay the county 85 million dollars, which PG&E customers (us) have to cough up. Why is this not called a tax?


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Exactly right. The school district will soon be broke and begging for more money without pg&e subsidies. Hopefully federal taxes will come down because state and local are going nowhere but up.


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is the retention money (not included in this article) goes away, the people will go away and the plant will be gone long before 2025.


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Closing Diablo early (prior to 2045 or 2065 even) is a huge mistake. Just look at the numbers here: https://www.pge.com/includes/docs/pdfs/shared/edusafety/systemworks/dcpp/PGE_Economic_Impact_Report_Final.pdf


Clean, cheap, emission free energy. One of the best plants in the entire US.


Nothing will be the same without this plant.


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PG&E payback? Are you kidding me? Anything that PG&E does is directly related to the rates that we pay. If they pay we pay. But really, why do they have to pay. There have been other businesses that have bveen forced to close and/or relocate out of California by the government regulations and environmental restraints. Have these businesses had to keep supporting the government? I think not. Simply put this is just another PR act of extortion on PG&E. Yes there will be a loss of revenue but maybe it’s time that some of these government agencies face reality and live within their means.


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This is not a Staples closing. You really don’t understand the scale of what is happening here. PG&E is trying to help. They are asking for the people in the state that benefitted from the clean air and low cost of nuclear to help pay for the early closure and the local impacts. Read this: https://www.pge.com/includes/docs/pdfs/shared/edusafety/systemworks/dcpp/PGE_Economic_Impact_Report_Final.pdf


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All I can say that from first hand experience with the issue it’s a wake up call for local governments to live within their means. They are crying foul and attempting to blame PG&E for their loss. I ask if you lost PART of your income would you expect someone to supplement you or would you cut back? These jurisdictions actually wanted more but PG&E agreed to this number and it was accepted only because these jurisdiction knew that they could not outlast the deep pockets of PG&E if a lawsuit was initiated.


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$85 million for what, closing up shop and terminating the handouts?Thankfully the judge is not going to allow this charge to be added to our PG&E bill. If this were to go the other way, it would be a rate increase in lieu of paying new taxes! I don’t mean to sound heartless for not willing to pay for the lost tax revenue each time a business closes. Why are we even having this discussion when the plant always had a closure date? The discussion should be about the misappropriation of public funds and getting it back.


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Thank you. I never understood why PG&E should continue paying taxes on something that no longer has value. I went to SLO Senior High when Diablo opened and they had school assemblies explaining that we were about to receive a huge amount of money forever. They even solicited student input on ways to spend it, this at one of 5 high schools in the nation with a planetarium. Last I checked, SLO was the 2nd richest district in the state per capital behind Beverly Hills, and the district is notoriously wasteful. A few years ago they redecorated the board room, no expansion, repair, nothing structural. for several hundred thousand dollars. The teacher’s pay is the highest of anywhere around (except King City, they have to pay very well in order to get any applicants, the free market at work). And now they’ve raised taxes by a $170,000,000 to remodel good modern schools, that if any work was needed, was the result of money that should have gone for routine maintenance frittered away elsewhere.


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All these schools, including Cuesta, have taken maintenance costs out of the budget, slapped them onto salaries and retirement ant then when the roofs leak, heating stops, etc. they call wolf, poor them and get another bond. Meanwhile, the salaries continue going up and salary just keep getting better and better. Anyone see where the 2 administrators got $200,000 bonus… Really, a government employment with the best salaries, benefits, holidays and retirement packages need a bonus? Go bankrupt, are kids are failing, the exit exam is no longer given because majority of kids in California can’t pass it and now they can go to college with reading and math skills. Shut the corrupt system down and send the kids to India for an education, they are getting the jobs…


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