Joint Proposal to Close Diablo Canyon and the Alliance (A4NR)

The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility is a signatory of the Joint Proposal to close Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.  While the Alliance (A4NR) agrees with most of the the proposal as written, it has reserved the right to challenge the $52 million in ratepayer funding that PG&E seeks as reimbursement for the amount they spent on their now irrelevant bid for license renewal at the NRC.

A4NR fought PG&E’s request for license renewal funding at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in 2010 when PG&E first sought the money, arguing that it was a premature effort and failed to anticipate or estimate the ongoing  costs of seismic concerns, retrofits, and the overall costs of extended operation.  At the end of 2011, the CPUC dismissed PG&E’s application for funding.

Here is rare video footage from July 12, 2011 featuring 9 minutes of Rochelle Becker’s presentation before Administrative Law Judge Barnett at the CPUC hearing for this case. The arguments Ms. Becker makes are as valid now as they were then….it made no sense to invest money in license renewal until all the potential costs could be tabulated.  

Ms. Becker may not have had a “crystal ball” but it is uncanny how the Alliance’s predication and claims have now proven to be true with PG&E’s announcement of plans to abandon license renewal.  

A4NR continues to maintain that PG&E should have been aware of the mounting pitfalls and obstacles to license renewal, and it is their shareholders–not ratepayers–who should foot that bill.