As Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s closure nears, many fear the impact that job and energy losses may have on the Central Coast, with the plant currently employing 1,500 people—but a new bill aims to mitigate some of those losses.
U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced on Oct. 6 that he will be re-introducing the Energy Opportunity Zones Act in Congress. First introduced in 2018, the new and improved bill would expand and create tax credits to encourage private investment in renewable energy on the Central Coast.
Though not limited to Diablo Canyon, the bill could help incentivize the creation of renewable energy and jobs there, offsetting the impending losses from Diablo’s closure.
Under this legislation, an area within a 120-mile radius of a nuclear or coal power plant that was used to generate electricity and has ceased operations would be designated as an “energy opportunity zone.” The zone designation, in turn, extends the investment tax credit and production tax credit for renewable energy endeavors in that area.
Diablo would be covered as well: The bill includes nuclear power plants that are scheduled to cease operations no later than six years after the enactment of the legislation. Diablo is scheduled to close in 2024 and 2025.
The bill only pertains to nuclear or coal plants, so something like the Phillips 66 Santa Maria oil refinery—which recently announced its upcoming closure—would not be included.
An area could also be designated as an energy opportunity zone if it can demonstrate that changes in its nuclear or coal economy have or will result in job losses.
“It’s really not specific to Diablo, but all of the above incentivizes businesses to invest in solar, wind energy, geothermal,” Carbajal told the Sun. “It really provides for broad investments, and that would lead to facilities.”
For the 120-mile radius around Diablo Canyon, which encompasses both Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, this could look like a repurposing of existing facilities or building new ones for renewable energy generation.
“Certainly if a company was to come up with a repurposing agreement or project in Diablo, I’m sure that is something that would be on the table,” Carbajal said.
He added that projects taking advantage of the investment tax credit and the production tax credit would be required to have a project labor agreement in place, “which would ensure that we are providing good, well-paying, living-wage jobs in the region,” Carbajal explained.
The congressman also announced on Oct. 1 that he “called on the Offshore Wind Working Group to reconvene and move forward with negotiations on a leasing area” for offshore wind development on the Central Coast, according to his office.
The group was created in August 2019 and has a variety of members, including representatives from the offices of Rep. Carbajal and Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Department of Defense, the Navy, and the California Energy Commission, according to Cabajal’s office.
Carbajal said the reconvened group will further encourage companies to invest in offshore wind energy.
“[The group] provides yet another tool for companies that are seeking to develop offshore wind energy to be able to get the tax credits that would incentivize them to make those projects a reality,” Carbajal said.
This article appears in Oct 8-15, 2020.