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Local leaders warn schools and services could suffer without mitigation funding if Diablo runs longer
Summary
Labor, education and business leaders told the county that continued Diablo operations buoy local wages, municipal revenues and outage-driven contracting, while school and county budgets previously cut after decommissioning announcements need stable mitigation funds if operations extend beyond current schedules.
A moderated panel with labor, education and business representatives focused on how Diablo Canyon’s operating schedule affects jobs, school funding and local services.
Hunter Stern (IBEW) described the plant’s workforce dynamics — including large outage crews (thousands of short-term workers) and bargaining concerns tied to compressed timelines — and warned that a shortened lead time to closure makes workforce transition and bargaining harder. “The compressed timeframe is gonna make it hard,” Stern said, emphasizing uncertainty for trades and outage-driven contractors.
Dr. Eric Prater (San Luis Coastal Unified School District) detailed the school-district impacts: the district once received roughly $10 million annually from the unitary tax tied to Diablo, and recent reductions required staffing cuts and program reductions. “We finalized a 2 year $10,000,000 reduction in our employee base,” Prater said, and urged that any extension include restored or replacement funding (SB931 was referenced by multiple speakers as a legislative approach to mitigation).
Aaron Abbott (Chamber) and other business leaders described multiplier effects: high wages at the plant support housing demand, local services and municipal bond markets; uncertainty around Diablo’s future affects long-term private investment decisions. Panelists coalesced on three practical asks for state decision-makers: transparent technical peer review, durable mitigation funding for host communities, and inclusion of local educational and civic stakeholders in planning.
