Amended in Senate March 31, 2016

Amended in Senate March 14, 2016

Senate Bill No. 968

Introduced by Senator Monning

(Coauthor: Senator Jackson)

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Achadjian)

February 8, 2016

An act to add Section 712.5 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 968, as amended, Monning. Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The Diablo Canyon nuclear powerplant, composed of reactor Units 1 and 2, is operated by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in the County of San Luis Obispo. Existing law requires the commission to convene, or continue, until August 26, 2025, an independent peer review panel to conduct an independent review of enhanced seismic studies and surveys of the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant, including the surrounding areas of the facility and areas of nuclear waste storage.

This bill would direct the commission to require the Pacific Gas and Electric Company to submit an assessment, no later than July 1, 2018, conducted by an independent 3rd party, selected as specified, of the adverse begin insert and beneficial end insert economic begin delete impact end delete begin insert impacts, and net economic effects, end insert that could occur, and of potential ways begin insert for the state and local jurisdictions end insert to mitigate begin delete that end delete begin insert the end insert adverse economic impact, if the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant were to temporarily or permanently shut down before the powerplant’s current operating licenses expire or if the Pacific Gas and Electric Company were to decide not to pursue license renewal. The bill would require the commission to consider any further assessments or reviews needed that could assist local efforts to prepare for a closure of the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 712.5 is added to the Public Utilities
Code, to read:

712.5.  

(a) (1) The commission shall require the Pacific Gas
and Electric Company to submit an assessment, no later than July
1, 2018, of the adverse begin insert and beneficial end insert economic begin delete impact end delete begin insert impacts end insert
for the region surrounding the County of San Luis begin delete Obispo end delete begin insert Obispo,
and the net economic effects on that region, end insert that could occur if the
Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant were to temporarily or
permanently shut down before the powerplant’s current operating
licenses from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expire or if the
Pacific Gas and Electric Company were to decide not to pursue
license renewal. The assessment shall include a review, as
described in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b), of potential actions
for the state and local jurisdictions to consider in order to mitigate
the adverse economic impact of a shutdown.

(2) The assessment shall be conducted by an independent third
party, selected in accordance with paragraph (1) of subdivision
(c).

(b) The assessment shall consist of, but not be limited to, all of
the following:

(1) Estimates of any decreases in local tax revenues, decreases
in workforce populations, losses in indirect or induced economies,
and potential impacts to ratepayers from an early shutdown.

(2) A review of the economic impacts that affected the region
surrounding the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station after it
was decommissioned by the Southern California Edison Company
and of the relevant decommissioning plans of the San Onofre
Nuclear Generating Station.

(3) A review of regions in the United States similar to the region
surrounding the County of San Luis Obispo that have experienced
the decommissioning of a nuclear powerplant and of the resulting
begin delete adverse end delete economic impacts of the decommissioning on those
regions.

(4) Identification of any contingency plans that could mitigate
the adverse economic impact of a shutdown to state and local
jurisdictions, the local workforce, and entities receiving enhanced
tax revenue.

(c) (1) The commission shall require the Pacific Gas and
Electric Company to issue a request for proposal for the
independent third party that will ensure that the selected party is
able to make an independent review and analysis of the data
described in subdivision (b). The commission shall make the final
selection of the independent third party from the list of qualified
bidders.

(2) The independent third party shall consult with the Board of
Supervisors of the County of San Luis Obispo, the governing board
of the San Luis Coastal Unified School District, and other relevant
governmental entities to assist in an accurate assessment of
decreases in local tax revenues.

(d) The commission shall make the assessment publicly available
on its Internet Web site and place it as an item on the agenda at
the next commission meeting after the assessment is made publicly
available for purposes of collecting and recording public comment,
and hold any subsequent public meetings as necessary.

(e) The commission shall consider any further assessments or
reviews needed that could assist local efforts in the region
surrounding the County of San Luis Obispo to prepare for a closure
of the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant and make those
considerations and findings publicly available.

SEC. 2.  

The Legislature finds and declares that a special law
is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable
within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
Constitution because, currently, the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2
powerplant, owned and operated by the Pacific Gas and Electric
Company, is the last operating nuclear powerplant in California
and its continued operation is uncertain as Diablo Canyon Units
1 and 2 are only authorized to operate until 2024 and 2025,
respectively. Local communities were ill-prepared and given no
notice after the sudden closure of the San Onofre Nuclear
Generating Station was announced on June 7, 2013, and the state
is still responding, at significant cost, to the sudden, permanent,
and unexpected loss of baseline electricity. Therefore, an
assessment is needed from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company
on the begin delete adverse end delete economic impact specific to a shutdown of the
Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant to provide the state, and
local communities, with valuable and necessary information to
plan and prepare for that circumstance, if needed.