This week Central Coast congressman Rep. Salud Carbajal is hosting a town hall meeting specifically about the announced closure of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. The state’s last nuclear power plant - owned by Pacific Gas and Electric - is expected to close in 2025, if the California Public Utilities Commission approves PG&E's request to do so.
Carbajal is in favor of creating a community advisory panel to participate in the plant’s decommissioning. In a letter sent to Diablo’s senior vice president and chief nuclear officer, Ed Halpin, Carbajal said while the company plans to form an advisory panel comprised of industry experts and local politicians, he thinks an advisory panel of local residents is warranted as well.
“I am writing to ask that PG&E consider forming the community advisory panel expeditiously, to benefit from the diverse set of ideas, and perspectives, and open a conduit of information between interested parties on all matters of decommissioning,” Carbajal wrote to Halpin. “Community engagement panels provide a platform to disseminate information, understand a variety of perspectives, and re-affirm the existing partnership between the nuclear plant owner and the local host community, a role that has provided both benefits and additional responsibilities.”
In the KCBX studio on Tuesday, Carbajal said one can never go wrong with having a well-informed process.
"I'm just reaffirming that this is imperative [that PG&E establishes a community advisory committee], because it will not only help PG&E, but it will help the community as a whole feel they are involved in the process," Carbajal said.
On Tuesday evening, Carbajal is hosting an informational session on Diablo, with representatives from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and PG&E on hand to answer questions from the public. The town hall is scheduled for Tuesday evening - August 29 - from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the San Luis Obispo County board of supervisors chamber at 1055 Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo.
Correction: an earlier version of this story listed the scheduled time of the town meeting as 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The town hall was scheduled to run from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
