Overview
- UC Santa Barbara researchers say PG&E overstated Diablo Canyon costs and forecast a $685.6 million hole in repaying the state’s $1.4 billion loan unless legislators change the repayment plan.
- The report says customer fees added in 2022 are not needed to run the plant and estimates Californians could save about $1.84 billion from 2027 to 2030 if those charges end.
- The funding gap traces to a mismatch between a $1.4 billion state loan, PG&E’s $1.1 billion federal request, and a U.S. Energy Department assessment that pegged needs at $741.4 million through 2030.
- PG&E rejects the cost inflation claim and cites state audits that found its loan spending reasonable, while noting the loan can be repaid only with federal grants and revenue from selling power under current law.
- Lawmakers now face choices on who covers any shortfall and whether to let the plant run past 2030 after recent federal licensing steps, with implications for power bills and a facility that supplies more than 8% of California’s electricity.