California State Energy Panel Hearing on San Onofre Closing

California State Capitol Building

The Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, chaired by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, held a hearing on Wednesday to hear from officials from San Onofre's operator Southern California Edison, commissioners from the California Public Utilities Commission and the chief executive of the California Independent System Operator. The hearing was to discuss the lost electricity, lost jobs and other consequences of the permanent shutdown of the San Onofre nuclear power plant that was announced last month.

Southern California Edison, owner of the San Onofre nuclear generating station (SONGS), recently told state utility officials that 30 percent of the utility's electricity was from carbon-free resources last year.  That's a decline from 2011, when San Onofre was still running, and 50 percent of its electricity came from carbon-free nuclear, hydroelectric and renewable sources. 

San Onofre was responsible for one-fifth of the electricity used by San Diego County and southern Orange County. Lawmakers are trying to figure out how to replace its capacity.  Edison announced June 7 that it was permanently closing San Onofre.

 

San Onofre's twin reactors hadn't produced electricity since January 2012, after a small radiation leak led to the discovery of damage to hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water in nearly new steam generators. The problems arose just after a $670 million upgrade to the plant.

 

San Onofre was a key part of California's energy supply both because of the more than 2,000 megawatts it produced but its strategic coastal location between San Diego and Los Angeles. It was able to power 1.4 million homes and was responsible for about 20 percent of the electricity used by San Diego and southern Orange County.

 

Since the shutdown, utilities have upgraded transmission lines and increased generation at other plants, businesses have been paid to shift consumption to off-peak hours and consumers have been paid to have their air conditioners automatically shut down during heat waves.

July 10, 2013 - Electrical System Stability and Reliability: Life After SONGS.

• Agenda
• Background
• Presentation: Jim Avery, Senior Vice President of Power Supply, San Diego Gas and Electric
• Presentation: David Mead, Senior VP of Transmission and Distribution Planning, Southern California Edision
• Presentation: Robert Weisenmiller, Chairman, California Energy Commission
• Presentation: Steve Berberich, President and Chief Executive Officer, California Independent System Operator
• Presentation: Mike Florio, Commissioner, California Public Utilities Commission

August 13, 2013 - Electrical System Stability and Reliability: Life After SONGS.

• Agenda
• Background
• Presentation:

September 24, 2013 - Electrical System Stability and Reliability: Life After SONGS.

• Agenda
• Background
• Presentation:

(Times Union, 8/10/2013, California Senate, Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee)