Growing up in San Luis Obispo, I can say firsthand that pressure has been on PG&E to close the plant since ~1969. Mothers for Peace, the Abalone Alliance, and a

Growing up in San Luis Obispo, I can say firsthand that pressure has been on PG&E to close the plant since ~1969. Mothers for Peace, the Abalone Alliance, and a bunch of other groups have been at war with DCPP for decades. The funny thing is when they finally "won", members of these same groups immediately started bleating about the massive amounts of lost tax revenue that are now looming large over local budgets. The closure has nothing to do with maintenance. The steam generators still have tons of life in them, the reactors are fine, etc. The main driver is California's renewable policies that would mean the plant likely wouldn't be at 100% every day, which is where it needs to be to stay economically viable. Fun fact: Diablo's "battery" is the Helms Pumped Storage Facility. It is extremely cool — a perfect Bond supervillain lair.