HomeMy WebLinkAboutSB968_LtrToMonning_20160407Office of the City Council
990 Palm Street. San Luis Obispo CA 93401-3249
805 781 7114
slocit, org
Apri17, 2016
The Honorable Bill Monning
State Capitol, Room 313
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 651 - 4017
RE: Senate Bill 968: Diablo Canyon Economic Impact Assessment
NOTICE OF SUPPORT
Dear Senator Monning:
The City of San Luis Obispo ("City") supports your bill, SB 968, which would require Pacific Gas
and Electric Company ("PG&E"), the operators of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant ("Plant"), to
fund a third -party assessment of the potential economic impacts of the closure of the Plant on nearby
communities, including ours.
PG&E is one of the largest private employers in the region, and while their 2013 Economic Impact
Study highlighted the economic benefits of the Plant, it failed to detail the adverse impacts that could
occur if the Plant were to shut down.
Each year, the City receives over $21,000 in business taxes from PG&E, many Plant employees
make their homes in the City and contribute to our high quality of life and many children of those
resident employees attend schools in the City, which benefit from a district funded by over
10,000,000 in taxes from PG&E. Were the Plant to close, it is unclear how the loss of those jobs
and that funding would affect the City residents and economy, in the short and long term. It is clear
that understanding those impacts requires far more analysis than placing a negative sign in front of
the numbers from the existing report on Plant benefits. A study of the kind proposed in your bill,
would give the City the information it needs to examine land use, zoning, infrastructure, tax and
housing policies in advance of a Plant closure and to engage our community in developing strategies
to address and mitigate anticipated impacts of a closure.
In order for the City to prepare for all possibilities including a temporary or permanent closure,
whether the closure is planned or unplanned, the City of San Luis Obispo strongly supports SB 968.
Sincerely,
flq
Jan Howell Marx
Mayor
cc: San Luis Obispo City Council
State Assembly Member, Katcho Achadjian, fax (916) 445 - 8081