California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) announced Wednesday he had signed legislation intended to offset potentially harmful economic impacts from the pending closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.
Senate Bill 1090 was among several dozen bills signed by the governor, according to a statement from his office.
Owner Pacific Gas & Electric is scheduled to close the San Luis Obispo County plant’s two reactors in 2024 and 2025 under an agreement with a number of labor and environmental groups. In approving the 2016 agreement, California’s Public Utilities Commission in January made two significant changes: it axed the $85 million set aside for post-closure community mitigation funding and reduced the balance for emloyee retention from $350 million to about $211 million.
The state legislation, coauthored by state Sen. Bill Monning (D) and Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R), directs the commission to allow full funding for both line items. It was approved overwhelmingly last month in both chambers of the California State Legislature.