Loan for California’s Last Nuclear Power Plant Survives Budget Negotiations

After months of negotiations, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders agreed June 22 to include a $400 million loan in the 2024–25 state budget to Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), the owner and operator of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, to continue running the plant.

Existing law allows for up to $1.4 billion in loans for the nuclear plant, of which $1 billion was already provided to PG&E by the Legislature in 2022 and 2023 to extend the life of the facility.

Such loans require repayment by the utility, though a timeline is not defined, along with reporting and documentation by the state’s Department of Water Resources, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission and Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission.

“The [Diablo Canyon] loan agreement was structured in a way to be paid out over time, allowing [the water resources department] to verify costs and PG&E to meet a compressed regulatory timeline,” Ryan Endean, deputy director of communications for the resources department, told The Epoch Times by email June 26.

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