State Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel) and researchers at UC Berkeley hosted a public forum on June 28, where they presented the findings included in a study regarding the economic impacts that the closure of Diablo Canyon Power Plant would have on Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
In the 144-page report, which was required by Monning’s Senate Bill 968, an independent third party of researchers explored the economic effects that Diablo Canyon’s closure could have on San Luis Obispo County, surrounding regions, and California as a whole. While the report found that the impacts of the closure will likely be significant, especially in SLO County, those effects are expected be “much smaller” than previously estimated.
“Plant closure will induce short-term reductions in local employment and expenditures associated with the cessation of electricity production,” the report reads. “This negative outcome is expected to decrease local economic activity by some $801 million annually in San Luis Obispo County. On the other hand, [Diablo Canyon] will not close in a vacuum: The plant will not immediately shut down, nor will all employees immediately leave the region.”
On June 21, 2016, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced that it would not seek the license renewals necessary to operate Diablo Canyon and that the plant would close after its license expires in August 2025. The closure, according to the economic impact assessment, is expected to cause ripple effects on the Central Coast.
Diablo Canyon employs 1,500 personnel—132 live in Santa Barbara County—who have an average annual salary of $150,000. The loss of those high-wage jobs will likely lead to less business at local restaurants, bars, real estate agencies, and hospitals in both SLO and Santa Barbara counties. The closure, according to the report, will result in a reduction in property taxes paid to SLO County and to fewer expenditures associated with the plant’s maintenance and material needs.
Still, the report notes that Senate Bill 1090 requires PG&E to pay millions to SLO County and Diablo Canyon employees in the several years before the plant closes to soften the blow. Taking that into consideration, researchers estimate that after the plant closes and the bulk of decommissioning expenditures begin, the net effect will be a roughly $77 million decrease in SLO’s output annually.
In Santa Barbara County, the report found that Diablo Canyon’s closure will have a limited and indirect net effect. Few Diablo Canyon employees live in Santa Barbara County, and the report states that the primary effects of the plant’s closure will be through impacts to those employees’ household expenditures. Although no direct funds or decommissioning expenditures will be spent in Santa Barbara County, there will be indirect effects, according to the assessment.
Researchers estimate that the closure of Diablo Canyon will decrease gross regional product by less than 0.1 percent, even without taking decommissioning expenditures into consideration.
This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 4, 2019.