June 26, 2016
State Lands Commission
100 Howe Avenue, Suite 100 South
Sacramento, CA, 95825
RE: Item #96 – Pacific Gas and Electric Company Leases at Diablo Canyon Power Plant
Honorable Chair Yee and Commissioners Newsom and Cohen:
You have within your power the opportunity to help hundreds if not thousands of families on the Central Coast.
San Luis Obispo County’s economy will suffer one of the biggest blows in its history when Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant shuts down. We accept this decision, but you can lessen the damage to our local economy and families by renewing its leases until 2025.
As you know, without the license extension, the plant will close in just two years – wreaking havoc on our economy and energy sector without giving us adequate time to transition.
This is not like San Onofre, where employees could find work in the robust markets of San Diego or Orange Counties. With Diablo Canyon’s closure we will lose the largest private employer in the county. Additionally, schools will lose revenue (at least $13 million per year) and families will lose well-paying jobs. Diablo currently employs nearly 1,500 people full time, with another 1,000 during outages. These jobs provide our community with a strong foundation for the middle class. The closure could actually cost over 3,200 jobs when factoring in the effect on local businesses. The economic output of Diablo Canyon is estimated by the county’s Economic Vitality Corporation to be $1 billion per year. These are not small numbers for a community like ours.
Please vote to extend Diablo Canyon’s State Lands Commission land leases so that they will expire at the same time as the plant’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses in 2025. San Luis Obispo County desperately needs as much time as possible to mitigate the impact of the plant’s closure. Families will have to relocate and the local economy will suffer tremendously without a longer transition period. Two years is not enough time.
Losing the plant will be a major setback for our community. But you can help families here on the Central Coast and give us the transition time we need by extending the land leases.
Thank you for your consideration.
Jordan Cunningham
Candidate for Assembly, 35th District
jcforassembly@gmail.com
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