By Michael R. Blood | Associated Press
The draft proposal also includes a possible loan for operator Pacific Gas & Electric for up to $1.4 billion. The draft was obtained ahead of a California Energy Commission meeting on the state’s energy needs and the role that the seaside plant midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco could play. The Democratic governor, who is seen as a possible future White House candidate, has for months urged PG&E to pursue a longer run beyond a scheduled closing by 2025, warning that the plant’s power is needed to maintain reliable service as the state transitions to solar, wind and other renewable sources of energy.
With an extended run, “Who pays, and is there fairness in who pays?” Laird asked in an interview. “There have been additional earthquake faults discovered near the plant, and seismic upgrades were never totally completed. Will they address that?” Newsom’s draft proposal amounts to an attempt to unspool a 2016 agreement among environmentalists, plant worker unions and the utility to close the plant by 2025. The joint decision to close the plant also was endorsed by California utility regulators, the Legislature and then-Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown.