The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) $271m to help support Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s extended operations.
Diablo Canyon Power Plant provides nearly 10% of California’s power generation, and its two 1,100 MWe Westinghouse-designed 4-loop pressurised water reactors were originally scheduled to cease commercial operations by 2025. The power plant was able to stay open thanks to the Civil Nuclear Credit Program, which was established via the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to provide strategic investments to preserve the US nuclear fleet and protect high-paying American jobs.
Under the programme, PG&E is eligible to receive up to $1.1bn to support activities necessary to keep Diablo Canyon operating. Funds can be used to help cover the cost of reactor component replacements, equipment upgrades, and fuel procurement, or address unforeseen costs associated with extending the plant’s operations and maintaining continued service.
In April, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved PG&E’s 20-year licence renewal application for extended operations of Diablo Canyon. Unit 1’s operating licence will now expire on 2 November 2044, and unit 2’s on 26 August 2045. NRC’s review of the licence renewal application addressed safety and environmental matters. Both a safety evaluation and a final supplemental environmental impact statement were issued in June 2025.
However, extending operations beyond 2030 for the plant’s two reactors will require action from the California Legislature. However, local operations remain a complex negotiation. While federal authorities have cleared the path and provided the cash, the California State Legislature must still act to resolve state law limits currently capping operations at 2030.
PG&E had agreed with environmental and labour groups in 2016 to retire Diablo Canyon’s unit 1 in November 2024 and unit 2 in August 2025. Then, in 2022, after statewide rotating power outages during a heat wave in 2020 and new energy demand projections, California lawmakers passed and Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 846, directing Diablo Canyon to operate until 2030 for its grid reliability and clean energy supply.
“Keeping Diablo Canyon online is critical to meeting California’s growing demand for affordable, reliable, and secure electricity,” said Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Ted Garrish. “The Civil Nuclear Credit Program is helping preserve this vital source of baseload power and ensuring that we don’t prematurely take reliable generation off the grid.”
