Biden gives PG&E $1 billion to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open
California Power Authority President and CEO Loretta Lynch and PG&E CEO Bill Johnson, center, address the media after addressing the California Public Utilities Commission, Tuesday, May 1, 2014, in San Francisco. (Jana Chytil/Bay Area New Media) less California Power Authority President and CEO Loretta Lynch and PG&E CEO Bill Johnson, center, address the media after addressing the California Public Utilities Commission,… more Photo: Jana Chytil, Bay Area News Group Photo: Jana Chytil, Bay Area News Group Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Biden gives PG&E $1 billion to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
SAN FRANCISCO – Vice President Joe Biden visited the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Diablo Canyon nuclear plant Tuesday afternoon, joining PG&E officials, state utility regulators and California Power Authority officials in San Francisco for a news conference to announce a five-year, $1 billion extension of the Diablo Canyon power plant’s operating license.
The federal government pays for the extension of PG&E’s license – an unusual public/private partnership between the utility, states and federal government – and PG&E won’t have to spend the money itself.
The utility’s officials say the extension will enable the plant to survive a natural gas shortage that’s threatened PG&E and other utilities for several years.
The extension, the company says, will help PG&E deal with an ongoing natural gas shortage that threatens the system’s reliability.
“It’s time for PG&E to get its gas from elsewhere,” said PG&E vice president for corporate development Tim DiLapsa. “If they didn’t have the power line extension, the company has talked of shutting down Diablo Canyon, where it has the only nuclear plant in the state.”
The extension does not solve the plant’s financial challenges, but is intended to provide the company with financial flexibility in the years following a natural gas shortage, said PG&E vice president for regulatory strategy Scott Davis, adding that it will prevent the company from having to make future capital investments in Diablo Canyon that are unrelated to its power