Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Station, on the coast of California.
Credit: Doc Searls/Flickr

Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s announcement yesterday that it would shutter California’s last nuclear plant and replace the power with energy efficiency and renewable energy was the result of a confluence of progressive state policies, CEO Anthony Earley said.

The closure of Diablo Canyon’s two nuclear reactors on California’s central coast in 2024 and 2025 will likely mean the end of nuclear power in the state, due to an existing state moratorium on new plants until the problem of radioactive waste is dealt with permanently.

The agreement came about through negotiations with labor unions and environmental groups, whose leaders said it could serve as a model for other states seeking to shut down nuclear or fossil-fueled plants.

But Early noted that California’s unique suite of policies formed the basis for the deal.

He cited last year’s passage of S.B. 350, a bill that raised the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 50 percent and mandated […]