On Friday Newsom and his government put the State on Flex for the use of energy. That means millions who have previously agreed, will have their energy use limited or shut off. This is statewide. Yet, at the same time he is closing the oil industry in the State and is finishing the job of Arnold and Jerry, closing the nuclear power in the State, 11% of our use—with NO replacement. Wind turbine and solar are VERY expensive and unstable and unreliable. Newsom is looking at filling miles and miles of the ocean with wind turbines—but watch as the environmentalists and others scream when the power lines will have to go from ten miles out in the ocean to your local beach and beyond. Ugly. Very ugly.
“Today’s energy shortage stems from the California Democratic Party’s socialist climate policies. Proud climate cultists, the Democrats in Sacramento, held captive by the radical environmental lobby, have feverishly pursued Utopian and punitive green mandates that have dug the state into a deep energy hole.
As a result, in the last decade, California’s electricity prices jumped 40%, the biggest increase of any state in the nation. Middle-class and working-class families now pay one of America’s highest electricity rates despite using half as much energy as the average American household.”
The Democrat energy policies are geared to making the rich happy and the middle class poor—or forced to leave the State.
Don’t let California nuke affordable energy
by Rep. Devin Nunes, Washington Examiner, 7/8/21
Late last week, California’s electricity grid managers declared that the Golden State is dangerously low on electricity.
Despite living in what once was America’s most innovative energy economy, Californians now must endure extreme measures, such as Venezuelan-style rolling blackouts, to relieve stress on the state’s electricity grid.
Today’s energy shortage stems from the California Democratic Party’s socialist climate policies. Proud climate cultists, the Democrats in Sacramento, held captive by the radical environmental lobby, have feverishly pursued Utopian and punitive green mandates that have dug the state into a deep energy hole.
As a result, in the last decade, California’s electricity prices jumped 40%, the biggest increase of any state in the nation. Middle-class and working-class families now pay one of America’s highest electricity rates despite using half as much energy as the average American household.
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With more than a third of its energy needs tethered to solar and wind farms, California’s grid operator must find 10,000 to 15,000 megawatts of replacement power on days when solar and wind power naturally decline. Thus, California became the nation’s largest net electricity importer in 2019, the same year it became the state most reliant on renewable resources for its in-state electricity generation.
Meanwhile, the remedy to California’s energy crisis is staring us in the face: nuclear energy.
Nuclear power is the preeminent source of reliable, affordable, and clean energy. It accounts for nearly 20% of America’s electricity, including more than half of our clean energy, and is the sole emissions-free energy source that is widely scalable. Crucially, unlike wind and solar power, nuclear energy is reliable — a California powered by nuclear energy won’t suffer blackouts when the wind stops blowing or the sun stops shining.
Ignoring all these benefits, the Democrats are moving forward to close California’s last operating nuclear power plant.
Commissioned in 1985, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, located near San Luis Obispo, is an energy powerhouse, generating 2,200 megawatts of electricity to meet the needs of more than 3 million Californians. The plant accounts for nearly 10% of the state’s energy production without emitting any greenhouse gases.
Unable to assail nuclear power as a source of clean energy, radical environmentalists disingenuously attack the safety of nuclear plants. Built with state-of-the-art seismic supports and routinely inspected and upgraded, Diablo Canyon’s twin four-loop pressurized-water nuclear reactors have operated since 1985 without incident, capable of withstanding strong earthquakes.
Nevertheless, California agencies blocked a license extension application by PG&E, Diablo Canyon’s owner and operator, forcing the firm to phase out Diablo Canyon by 2025.
Ironically, Diablo Canyon’s closure undermines the Left’s self-professed goal of reducing global warming emissions. The plant’s baseload generation lowers the electricity system’s peaks during multiple-day heat waves. When it closes, extra peaker plants will have to run almost constantly to replace Diablo’s output, meaning the state will use more fossil fuels. We know this from experience — when California retired the San Onofre nuclear plant in 2012, the state’s share of gas-fired generation jumped from 45% to 61%.
Even the Union of Concerned Scientists, which supports Diablo Canyon’s shutdown, found that between now and 2030, California’s electricity sector will emit an extra 15.5 million metric tons of global warming emissions due to the plant’s retirement. And a California Independent System Operator model found that the plant’s closure will produce a 3,493-megawatt resource deficiency in 2026, the first year the plant will be offline. Additionally, with Diablo Canyon closed, the state’s annual 6% increase in electricity costs will undoubtedly rise.
If California Democrats succeed in wiping out both fossil fuels and nuclear power, Californians will face a bleak energy future of even higher electricity prices and more unreliable energy production. That’s why I’m introducing in Congress the Clean Energy Protection Act, which will require California to permit Diablo Canyon to remain open and direct the appropriate federal agencies to allow the plant to develop an additional 8,000 megawatts of next-generation nuclear capacity.
Instead of shutting the plant down, expanding its output in this way would ease the state’s energy crisis, lower electricity prices, and increase local revenues. Nuclear power could form the backbone of a revitalized California economy, powering our households and industries with a clean energy source that, with reprocessing, would produce nearly zero waste.
Saving Diablo Canyon from the radical Democrats’ climate chopping block is the first battle in a long war to restore sensible energy policies to the Golden State. California could become the leader in next-generation, clean nuclear power, but instead, we’re going down the path of less energy, higher prices, and more blackouts. For my fellow Americans who live in states with operational nuclear power plants, take heed of what has happened in California: Don’t let the Left nuke affordable, clean energy.
Devin Nunes represents California’s 22nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
