As public hearings continue regarding the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, San Luis Obispo County residents must confront a terrifying reality. While regulators use rare loopholes to bypass environmental rules for a supposedly brief five-year extension—this is the bait—the truth is a multi-decade push to secure power for a surging tech sector and unpublicized AI data centers is already in the works—that is the switch.
We are gambling our coastline on a company with a dark history. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is a convicted corporate felon, found guilty in federal court of multiple felony counts following past fatal safety failures. Entrusting a nuclear facility sitting near active seismic faults to an operator that has historically cut corners for corporate profit is a dangerous risk we cannot afford to take. We know how this story ends when convicted felons are put in charge of our safety and well-being.
The environmental fallout extends far beyond daily marine ecosystem damage. Like the catastrophic wastewater crisis at Fukushima, where more than a million tons of radioactive water has overwhelmed storage capacities, Diablo Canyon faces its own mounting waste crisis. Right now, highly radioactive spent fuel assemblies are packed into temporary dry storage casks on our coast.
What happens when these concrete and steel canisters degrade over time? The United States still has no permanent repository for high-level nuclear waste, meaning these dangerous materials are stranded on our shores indefinitely.
If we allow a convicted felon to expand operations and generate even more permanent waste to feed power-hungry AI databases, we are cementing a toxic legacy for future generations.
We demand full safety compliance and transparency now.
Jean’ne Blackwell
San Luis Obispo
This article appears in July 30 – August 6, 2026.
