Diablo Canyon gets key state approval

Pacific Gas & Electric has announced that the California Coastal Commission, the state agency in charge of protecting California's roughly 840 miles of coastline, unanimously voted to approve the Act Consistency Certification and Coastal Development Permit for Diablo Canyon, a critical step in the utility's work to extend the life of the nuclear power plant.

The agreement: PG&E agreed with the commission to a number of new conservation efforts in the certification process. According to the utility, as part of extended operations through 2030, PG&E will do the following:

• Use conservation easements and potential land transfers of the site's North Ranch to the bordering Montaña de Oro State Park or other tribal or public entities. PG&E says that this will protect 4,500 acres of the area and could expand the state park by 50 percent. The North Ranch is part of the broader Diablo Canyon Lands, more than 12,000 acres owned by PG&E and its affiliates that contain "relatively undisturbed grasslands, coastal sage, oak woodlands, and bishop pine forests," according to the utility.
• Establish a purchase option for Wild Cherry Canyon, a 2,400-acre property southeast of the plant. PG&E has previously said the canyon has been "the subject of numerous (as of yet unsuccessful) conservation efforts." This latest announcement states that this new purchase option will enable potential future conservation.
• Dedicate 25 miles of new public trails, including the Point Buchon and Pecho Coast loops, San Luis Hill access, and a through-trail linking Montaña de Oro to Port San Luis.
• Contribute $10 million for trail development, maintenance, and stewardship.
• Commit not to selling South Ranch lands until 2040, ensuring CCC oversight during decommissioning.

Two additional conservation efforts related to the South Ranch will also be enacted if Diablo Cayon's operations continue after 2030:

• South Ranch conservation deed restrictions will be expanded to 2,490 acres, covering all coastal zone lands.
• Government agencies, nonprofits, and California Native American Tribes will be given first purchase rights for all 5,000 acres of South Ranch, with mandatory conservation easements.

In all, PG&E has broadly committed to continue-and expand-its conservation efforts in the land surrounding Diablo Canyon and may sell off a significant portion of its acreage in the near-term future.

Broader extension: This approval comes as PG&E reverses course on Diablo Canyon. In 2016, the utility elected to shut down Units 1 and 2 in November 2024 and August 2025 respectively, a decision that state regulators approved in 2018.

But, after heat wave-induced rotating outages in 2020 and new, higher-energy-demand projects in 2022, California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed S.B. 846, which directed Diablo Canyon to run through 2030. In December 2023, the California Public Utilities Commission voted to extend the plant's life an additional five years.

In 2023, Diablo Canyon submitted a license renewal application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for review. In June of this year, the commission found that the plant is safe to operate for another 20 years. According to PG&E, the last remaining step in its license renewal process is permit approval from the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.