Coast Headlines: Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant may get reprieve from shutdown

The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is the last nuclear facility in California. A bill being considered by the Legislature would make it possible for lawmakers to keep the plant open after it was supposed to close.

The energy trailer bill, which was negotiated by Gov. Gavin Newsom's office, gives the state Department of Water Resources a reserve fund of up to $75 million to keep old power plants running longer. Diablo Canyon, near San Luis Obispo and on the coast, has been getting ready to close for more than five years.

The money is part of a controversial bill that, if passed, would help Newsom deal with two of his biggest worries: making sure the state's power grid stays reliable and preventing brownouts or blackouts, which would be bad for politics.

If the Newsom administration wanted to keep the nuclear plant running longer, they would have the money to do so. However, no one knows how much it will cost to keep the 37-year-old facility owned by Pacific Gas and Electric running. Multiple calls and emails to Newsom's office and the Department of Water Resources were not answered right away. When asked for an estimate, Lynsey Paulo, a spokesman for PG&E, did not give one.