The San Luis Coastal Unified School District is demanding future funding and support from PG&E if Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant continues to operate in San Luis Obispo County.
The demands were outlined in a statement issued on Friday and a resolution passed by the school board on Aug. 18.
The move comes after three years of school district budget cuts and intense conversations surrounding the planned closure of Diablo — and the subsequent authorization to keep the nuclear power plant operating without community impact funding for county agencies and schools through at least 2030 and potentially beyond.
It also occurs after Sen. John Laird announced that he reached an agreement with PG&E that secured $16.6 million over two years that will be disbursed to the county, and from there, to schools and other agencies. The agreement mirrors legislation that Laird was carrying through the statehouse — but was a voluntary, private agreement between PG&E and the Central Coast lawmaker and was not achieved through law.
Though that agreement will result in more funding for the local school district for the next two years, San Luis Coastal says the work isn’t yet done.
“It is an important start, but it should not be the final step,” the district said. “California should not ask the children of this community to subsidize a statewide energy decision.”
What does San Luis Coastal school district want?
The school district’s top priority is to ensure that students and school staff are adequately compensated for living and working near California’s only operating nuclear power plant, it said in its statement.
“Whatever California decides, our community should not be required to absorb the financial, operational or public-safety costs of a statewide energy decision,” it said.
For years, the district received around $10 million in income paid through PG&E unitary tax from Diablo Canyon. When it was announced that Diablo would close, the district was involved in negotiations that tapered off the mitigation payments from 2016 through 2025 — but those payments were not reinstated when Diablo was authorized to continue operating past its planned closure date, leaving schools and other county agencies without that chunk of income.
That left the district to cut around $10 million from its budget over three school years, prompting concerns among parents and staff about the sustainability of programming and jobs.
“The loss has contributed to difficult decisions affecting staffing, programs, services, investments and long-term financial planning,” the district said in its statement.
As the state moves forward with the decision-making process, which could result in Diablo Canyon continuing to operate past 2030, the district urged public officials to compensate the community by restoring its $10 million in annual income and guaranteeing long-term funding commitments throughout the operations period.
Additionally, the district asked for emergency preparedness resources, a readiness assessment analyzing the local schools and community and recognition of the local schools as “essential infrastructure.”
The district also asked for protection from a repetition of the history that has left it in a precarious financial position, demanding that any future extensions of operations be directly tied to community funding.
“Our request is straightforward: If Diablo Canyon continues operating, the partnership with the host community must continue as well,” the district wrote.
The district said that refusing to fund the community that supports Diablo while authorizing continued operations would be “shortsighted public policy.”
“This is not a request for preferential treatment,” it said. “It is a request for reciprocity, fairness and responsible stewardship.”
A resolution outlining similar statements and concerns was approved at the district’s most recent school board meeting. The resolution was unanimously approved with one member, Chris Ungar, absent for the vote, according to the document.