Diablo Canyon Operations and Its Community Impacts
In 2016, PG&E released plans for Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant (DCPP) to shut down by August 2025.
A Community Impacts Mitigation Program (CIMP) providing SLCUSD with over $4 million annually was negotiated and enacted as part of Senate Bill (SB) 1090 in 2018.
In 2022, the California legislature passed SB 846, authorizing DCPP to keep operating until 2030.
Other parts of the CIMP were explicitly extended for as long as DCPP is operating, but payments to SLO County and SLCUSD were excluded.
This page provides a more detailed discussion of County and SLCUSD revenue negotiated as part of the plant’s decommissioning process and extended operations. We recommend first reading our rundown of DCPP and Tax Revenue to get a more complete background.
Other than property taxes, does P&E pay additional money to the County and school district? How much?
Yes, but only until 2025.
SLCUSD receives over $4 million annually from PG&E, but no additional payments will be made after the 2025-26 school year.
This money is part of a Community Impacts Mitigation Program (CIMP) negotiated in 2016 to help reduce the local impact of reduced unitary tax revenue. This money is not a unitary tax payment, though district staff and elected officials will occasionally (and confusingly) use that language.
What is SB 1090 money? What is the ESMF?
Senate Bill (SB) 1090 is the name of the bill codifying the language of the CIMP. The legislation was required because the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) refused to authorize the CIMP without a legislative directive.
If you hear the phrase “SB 1090 money” in the context of the SLCUSD budget, it means the $4M+ CIMP payments.
To add further confusion, the money allocated to the County and SLCUSD as part of the CIMP is also called the Essential Services Mitigation Fund (ESMF). This term distinguishes money for SLCUSD and the County from other elements of the CIMP, which included an Employee Retention Fund and an Economic Development Fund.
The Employee Retention Fund (ERF) made up the vast majority of the money allocated by SB 1090, and SLO County and SLCUSD had to agree not to oppose the ERF to receive ESMF money.
Isn’t Diablo Canyon staying open?
Yes.
In 2022, the California legislature passed SB 846, which effectively canceled the decommissioning process outlined by SB 1090 and authorized PG&E to keep DCPP running until 2030.
If DCPP is staying open, why are the payments to SLCUSD ending?
The CIMP payments were negotiated in 2016, when DCPP was expected to cease operations by 2025. The payments were not modified or extended by SB 846. PG&E’s position is that any additional CIMP-like payments would need to be directed by the California legislature.
Did SLCUSD or the County try to get CIMP payments extended as part of SB 846?
We are not sure. This question gets deep into political workings at the local, county, and state level. As far as we can tell, no broad negotiations were done with local stakeholders in a manner similar to the CIMP.
We do know that $160 million was included in SB 846 to develop the “Diablo Lands” around DCPP. This effort has already received $50 million in state money (as of 2025), and is a long-term initiative historically supported by State Senator John Laird and his local staff member Kara Woodruff.
Will local unitary tax revenue increase if DCPP continues operating until 2030 and beyond?
Maybe.
The California State Board of Equalization (SBE) has a mandate to assess PG&E’s unitary assets using guidance that includes “fair market value”. With respect to DCPP, this has meant decreasing the plant’s assessed value significantly over the past 7 years.
We believe that if DCPP is generating power (and revenue) for PG&E, its assessed value should no longer be decreasing. However, the assessment decision rests solely with the SBE, and there is no clear mechanism for us to appeal or influence that decision.
As of September 2025, the latest guidance from SBE indicates that the assessed value of the plant will be 2.33% higher in 2025-26 than in 2024-25. This is a positive sign, as County and district staff have been expecting to lose ~10% in unitary tax revenue in the coming year.
Will DCPP shut down in 2030?
This is another question with complex political and economic implications. Some local stakeholders are acting as if 2030 is the end of the line for DCPP, while others are convinced it will continue operating for another 20 years.
PG&E has applied for a 20 year license renewal with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The decision on that application was expected in August 2025, but no decision has been made public as of September 2025.
We hold no position on whether or not DCPP should continue operating past 2030. What’s important is that if DCPP continues operating, PG&E should do the right thing and continue its support for our schools.
We also believe very strongly that PG&E, elected officials, and district staff should take special care not to use our children as leverage in attempts to garner support or opposition for extended operations.