Loan for California’s Last Nuclear Power Plant Survives Budget Negotiations

After months of negotiations, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders agreed June 22 to include a $400 million loan in the 2024–25 state budget to Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), the owner and operator of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, to continue running the plant. Existing law allows for up to $1.4 billion in loans for the nuclear plant, of which $1 billion was already provided to PG&E by the Legislature in 2022 and 2023 to extend the life of the facility. Such loans require repayment by the utility, though a timeline is not defined, along with reporting and documentation by the state’s Department of Water Resources, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission and Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission....