BILL NUMBER: SB 968 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 674
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 26, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 26, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 26, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 17, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 1, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 28, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 31, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 14, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Monning
(Coauthor: Senator Jackson)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Achadjian)
FEBRUARY 8, 2016
An act to add Section 712.5 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to electricity, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the
urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 968, Monning. Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations.
The Diablo Canyon nuclear powerplant, composed of reactor Units 1 and
2, is operated by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in the County
of San Luis Obispo. Existing law requires the commission to convene,
or continue, until August 26, 2025, an independent peer review panel
to conduct an independent review of enhanced seismic studies and
surveys of the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant, including the
surrounding areas of the facility and areas of nuclear waste storage.
The Nuclear Facility Decommissioning Act of 1985 requires each
electrical corporation owning or operating nuclear facilities to
establish an externally managed, segregated fund for payment of
decommissioning costs of those facilities, establishes requirements
for collection of moneys for decommisioning costs in the utility's
rates and charges, and requires that the expenses associated with
decommissioning of nuclear facilities be paid from those funds.
Pursuant to the act, the commission ordered 2 nuclear decommissioning
funds be established for the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant.
This bill would require the commission to cause an assessment to
be completed by no later than July 1, 2018, conducted by an
independent 3rd party, selected as specified, of the adverse and
beneficial economic impacts, and net economic effects, that could
occur, and of potential ways for the state and local jurisdictions to
mitigate the adverse economic impact, if the Diablo Canyon Units 1
and 2 powerplant were to temporarily or permanently shut down before
the powerplant's current operating licenses expire or when the
Pacific Gas and Electric Company closes the powerplant upon the
expiration of its current licenses. The bill would require the
commission to approve the withdrawal of $400,000 from the nuclear
decommissioning funds established for the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2
powerplant for use by the commission for additional staffing to
urgently effectuate the 3rd-party assessment.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute for the Pacific Gas and Electric
Company.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 712.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
712.5. (a) (1) The commission shall cause an assessment to be
completed by no later than July 1, 2018, of the adverse and
beneficial economic impacts, and the net economic effects, for the
County of San Luis Obispo and the surrounding regions, that could
occur if the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant were to
temporarily or permanently shut down before the powerplant's current
operating licenses from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expire or
when the Pacific Gas and Electric Company closes the powerplant upon
the expiration of its current licenses. The assessment shall include
a review, as described in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b), of
potential actions for the state and local jurisdictions to consider
in order to mitigate the adverse economic impact of a shutdown.
(2) The assessment shall be conducted by an independent third
party, selected in accordance with paragraph (1) of subdivision (c).
(b) The assessment shall consist of, but not be limited to, all of
the following:
(1) Estimates of any changes in local tax revenues, changes in
workforce populations, changes in indirect or induced economies, and
potential impacts to ratepayers from a shutdown.
(2) A review of the economic impacts that affected the region
surrounding the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station after it was
decommissioned by the Southern California Edison Company and of the
relevant decommissioning plans of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating
Station.
(3) A review of regions in the United States similar to the County
of San Luis Obispo and the surrounding regions that have experienced
the decommissioning of a nuclear powerplant and of the resulting
economic impacts of the decommissioning on those regions.
(4) Identification of any contingency plans that could mitigate
the adverse economic impact of a shutdown to state and local
jurisdictions, the local workforce, and entities receiving enhanced
tax revenue.
(c) (1) The commission shall issue a request for proposal for the
independent third party that will ensure that the selected party is
able to make an independent review and analysis of the data described
in subdivision (b).
(2) The independent third party shall consult with the Board of
Supervisors of the County of San Luis Obispo, the governing board of
the San Luis Coastal Unified School District, the Center for Labor
Research and Education at the University of California at Berkeley,
the regional economic development group of the County of San Luis
Obispo, and other relevant governmental entities or community-based
organizations to assist in an accurate assessment of the economic and
workforce impacts of a shutdown.
(d) The commission shall make the assessment publicly available on
its Internet Web site, distribute copies to relevant state and local
jurisdictions, and convene a public forum in the County of San Luis
Obispo on the findings and recommendations of the assessment.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because, currently, the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant, owned
and operated by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, is the last
operating nuclear powerplant in California, and, on June 21, 2016,
the Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced that it would not
renew its licenses for Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2, which are set to
expire in 2024 and 2025, respectively. In addition, a joint proposal
governing the closure of the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2, which
included an orderly replacement of electricity from generating
resources that do not emit greenhouse gases and an employee retention
severance program, was signed by interested parties. Local
communities were ill-prepared and given no notice after the sudden
closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station was announced on
June 7, 2013, and the state is still responding, at significant
cost, to the sudden, permanent, and unexpected loss of baseline
electricity. Therefore, an assessment is needed on the economic
impact specific to a shutdown of the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2
powerplant to provide the state, and local communities, with valuable
and necessary information to plan and prepare for that circumstance.
The findings and recommendations made are not intended to interfere
with or invalidate the joint proposal and can be used by local
communities and parties to the joint proposal to provide further
information and recommendations to minimize the local economic and
other impacts that the planned closure may cause.
SEC. 3. The Public Utilities Commission shall approve the
withdrawal of four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) from the
nuclear decommissioning trust funds established by Pacific Gas and
Electric Company pursuant to the Nuclear Facility Decommissioning Act
of 1985 (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 8321) of Division 4.1 of
the Public Utilities Code) for the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2
powerplant. The commission shall use the moneys for additional
staffing to urgently effectuate the third-party assessment pursuant
to Section 712.5 of the Public Utilities Code.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced on June 21, 2016,
that it would not renew its licenses for Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2
and it is necessary for the Public Utilities Commission to
immediately start the process of selecting an independent third party
to conduct an economic assessment and to provide the independent
third party with as much time as possible to conduct a thorough
assessment.