SAN FRANCISCO, January 11, 2018 – The Office of Ratepayer Advocates (“ORA”), the independent consumer advocate within the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”), is pleased the CPUC today approved the closure of the last operating nuclear power plant in California, which is owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“PG&E”).

While the CPUC approved the proposal to retire Diablo Canyon by 2025, it agreed with ORA and other parties that PG&E’s request to charge its customers $1.77 billion for costs associated with the plant closure was too expensive.  Consistent with ORA’s recommendations, the CPUC significantly reduced PG&E’s request to $241.2 million.

“PG&E customers benefit from this decision because it protects customers from paying $1.56 billion in unnecessary costs, while providing important funding for PG&E employee retention and retraining programs,” said Elizabeth Echols, Director of ORA.  “Today’s decision is well-supported by the evidence ORA and other parties provided in this case.”

For more information on ORA, please visit www.ora.ca.gov.