Diablo's Future | Maureen Zawalick

Great job pronouncing the last name. We practiced that more than what I was going to say today, I think, so that was great. Good morning, everyone. I love being here. Thank you so much for the invitation. I was thinking about the last time we were here. I was here with my colleague Tom Jones, and it was right after the legislation had passed in September of 2022. It was just like no one thought that was going to happen, right? But so much has happened in the nation and the world around climate and so forth, and it's just so important to make sure that we are combating our climate issues with our clean energy policies. California is really fortunate to have Diablo Canyon. Diablo Canyon is not only the largest clean energy generating facility in California, but it also powers over 3 million homes and businesses. That is so important.

Another great thing to talk about, California's last nuclear operating plant, is that it is the place where over 1,300 people work. It is a great economic engine for our community with many benefits. Not like Kristen in the 40 years of Pacific Gas and Electric, but we've been out there for 50-some years with the footprint. I've been out there for 30 years, which is just an incredible place to be. One thing I'd like to say, we have the stats up there, it's kind of hard to see, but the current operating licenses were going to expire in November of 2024 and August of 2025. What that legislation has done is paved the way for Diablo running longer and providing that clean energy source along with wind, solar, and hydro that we need to combat climate. In December of 2023, the California Public Utility Commission did change those dates to 2029 and 2030, so that was just another outstanding step in the direction of keeping Diablo Canyon running.

We've been doing a lot out there as far as making sure that we operate longer. Currently, right now, we have a refueling outage going on, and there's a lot of things that we've had to do to make sure that we can continue to operate. One thing with that refueling outage is that that's another economic stimulus to this community. We've added over a thousand temporary workers for over a couple months that are coming into this community, eating in our restaurants, staying at our hotels, and buying things downtown, you know, San Luis Obispo. So that's just been incredible. As far as that, there's great energy out there. There's just an infusion of a lot of positive activity that's been going on. When we talked at the end of 2022, we were calling it concurrent path. You know, Jim talked about we had been on a path of decommissioning for six or seven years and planning for that. We're really no longer on concurrent path. I mean, every nuclear plant in the United States always is planning for the eventual decommissioning, but we have met all of the requirements and the legislation to continue to operate Diablo Canyon. We've met all those requirements as far as PG&E's requirements. There's some state actions that are needed and some regulatory proceedings, but we are navigating through that very smoothly. It's been a collective effort by many to help all of us out there, and it's just really been a great stride of what we've been able to accomplish in a year and a half.

When I think about the last time that we were here, another question that we get asked a lot, and you might see in the headlines, is we submitted an application for 20 years with the federal government. I just talked about 2029 and 2030, that's five years. We did that because that's what the federal government's process is with our federal safety regulator, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We did that also because that will also maximize the optionality for the State of California. So we're regulated by both the state and by the federal government. The federal government will give us 20 years, but the state can tell us if it's five years or if we need it a little bit longer, depending on the advancements of renewables and offshore wind and all of that. Another thing we get asked is that with Diablo running longer, that means offshore wind projects have to stop. Not at all. They need to be going in parallel paths. We need to be launching everything possible to ensure we have a reliable grid to make sure we can meet the energy policies that are needed for clean energy and combating climate, all the electrification that's going on, the EVs that are out there, and now you're hearing a lot about data centers and how are we going to power that. So maximizing, going for a 20-year license helps the state navigate through all of that and what is needed for our grid to make sure we at Diablo Canyon keep at least 3 million homes and businesses powered because it's such an essential service for human beings.

Finally, I'm not sure if it's advancing with me. Oh yeah, we've had lots of visitors. Here's one of them behind us. So we've been very popular, and I'm going to talk about ways in which you all can come see Diablo. So flip to the last page right there. I want to really highlight the chamber's program. Insight Studio is a great opportunity to come out with the chamber. Jim will have more information on that to talk and share. That's an outstanding program. Other ways is get that QR code. We're starting back up public tours. You can just contact me, and I can always help get you out there as well. And again, I just want to thank you all for the time and the invitation today. I just wanted to share a little bit about the importance of nuclear power with our clean energy goals and how great it is at Diablo Canyon.