by Erich Pica, Friends of the Earth
On September 20, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation implementing the final pieces of a deal to close the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. The Bill ensures that these last nuclear reactors in California will be replaced with greenhouse gas free resources, including renewable energy, energy storage and energy efficiency. The law also mandates that the closure of the Diablo Canyon reactors will be accompanied by a $350 million employee retention program and a $85 million community impact mitigation program. In this way, the Bill is a new “green yardstick” for just transition that protects workers while still moving away from dirty and dangerous nuclear and fossil fuel power plants.
In June 2016, Friends of the Earth, labor unions and local communities negotiated an agreement in which PG&E renounced its plans to seek renewed operating licenses for Diablo Canyon’s two reactors and to replace it with renewable energy, efficiency and energy storage resources.