A bill designed to study the economic impacts of a Diablo Canyon shut down—temporary or permanent—is taking some heat from a coalition of environmental groups.
In a letter to the State Senate's Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, the groups state that SB 968 is "unbalanced" and "conceptually flawed."
Jane Swanson with San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, one of the groups behind the letter, said Wednesday that this bill misses the mark. She would instead like to see legislation focused on comprehensive mitigation.
"We all know Diablo will shut down, we just don't know when," said Swanson. "What we need is thoughtful planning for a transition that will create jobs to new sources of energy, that's what we need."
Swanson said she's also concerned that the bill gives the power plant's operator, PG&E, the power to choose the independent researcher to study mitigation.
Central Coast Senator Bill Monning, the bill's lead author, told KCBX that Swanson's perspective is a little misguided.
"The bill does allow for PG&E to identify potential third-party evaluators, but it leaves to the [Public Utilities Commission] to select any third-party evaluator," said Monning.
He said he's also invited the groups behind the letter to be involved in the process as the bill moves forward.
The environmental groups say that the bill calls for a study that's already been done. Monning said his bill is different. He said it's designed to look at the negative affects of a Diablo Canyon shutdown as opposed to the power plant's positive economic impact—a study PG&E did several years ago.
"It's not simply putting a minus sign in front of those positive contributions," Monning said.
Monning's bill is co-sponsored by Santa Barbara State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson and San Luis Obispo Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian.