Fighting for Clean Energy in Southern California

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has voted on their plan to replace the power from the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating System. The CPUC passed their proposed decision unanimously, which will require Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric to incorporate clean energy to replace the San Onofre system. Ultimately, the final decision incorporated last minute changes that will increase the odds that utilities will build gas plants instead of installing local, renewable energy sources.

While the CPUC’s final plan does require that a portion of the energy come from renewable sources, the utilities will ultimately get to choose where the bulk of the energy comes from, which could include natural gas. Leaving this choice in the hands utilities could pave the way for new, gas-fired power plants that are often built in low-income communities of color. In fact, San Diego Gas & Electric has already begun to lay the groundwork for a new gas plant in Carlsbad. The utility could use that plant in the energy mix required by the CPUC to replace the San Onofre plant.

Existing gas plants are already contributing to the ozone pollution that leaves the Los Angeles basin with some of the dirtiest air in the country, with an “F” rating from the American Lung Association. Residents of affected communities have held a series of escalating protests and actions, demanding that the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station be replaced with clean energy and jobs, not more dirty gas-fired plants.

New gas plants would lock in more carbon pollution for decades to come and would undermine California’s climate targets. According to the California Air Resources Board, greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2012 for the first time since 2008 because of increased reliance on gas plants after San Onofre closed.