Extending operations at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant could impact your electricity bills.
“Whenever I think about it, it always stresses me out. Whenever I read a newsletter, I see an e-mail from PG&E. I'm like, Okay, now what are they doing to get the rates up?” Amit Shenoy, who lives in San Jose said.
After the California Public Utilities Commission voted in November to approve PG&E’s request to increase its rates for the next two years, another rate hike from PG&E does not come as a surprise to many Californians.
“Everybody's just complaining. Nobody's happy about it.” Shenoy said.
The new notice, which customers recently received in their bills comes just after the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced it has accepted and will review PG&E’s application to renew the Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s two operating licenses.
The potential new rate hike would help fund the Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s employee retention program which aims to keep qualified personnel until the end of extended operations in 2030.
The proposal will be included in rates for all load-serving entities in California, including customers in the service territories of Bear Valley Electric Service, Liberty Utility, PacifiCorp, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric.
Some locals tell me they understand PG&E’s commitment to retaining its highly skilled operators and engineers, but at the same time hope it does not have a big financial impact.
"If they're going to shut it down, people are going to start to leave fast. So I would understand that that makes sense." Leslie Ward who lives in San Luis Obispo said. "I just hope it isn't too much of a rate hike.
This is PG&E’s third rate hike request in recent months.
After the CPUC approved the nearly 13% increase that customers will see starting on January 1st, PG&E asked for another $2 billion from customers to pay for wildfire mitigation. If approved, according to Turn.org, that increase would boost bills by at least another $12 a month starting in May.
PG&E tells me customers would likely see little to no change on their bills due to extended operations at Diablo Canyon because any cost would be spread out to all electricity customers in the state.
