Economics
California’s Last Nuclear Plant Is Closing, Edged Out by Renewables
- Pact with environmental groups calls for more renewables
- Closing the plant will cost less than keeping it open: CEO
inside the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant at Avila Beach, California, U.S., on Friday, March. 30, 2012.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Economics have achieved what environmentalists have sought for years: the shutdown of California’s nuclear power plants.
PG&E Corp. is proposing to close two reactors at Diablo Canyon in a decade that would end up costing more to keep alive as California expands its use of renewable energy, Chief Executive Officer Tony Earley said Tuesday. They won’t be needed after 2025 as wind and solar costs decline and electricity from the reactors becomes increasingly expensive, he said.