SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif-The controversial advanced seismic surveys at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant are nearing and PG&E won't be paying for the work to be done. Instead, customers are footing the 64-million dollar bill. The bill will be dispersed among PG&E's 5-million electric customers.
PG&E spokesperson Blaire Jones said the rate increase will be a small amount, a matter of cents. Some people said they are simply sick of the increases.
"It's 5 cents here its 5 cents there, they nickel and dime us to death," said Pat Tanner, a community member. The public utilities commission just approved PG&E to use rate recoveries for the study. "The studies benefit all of PG&E's customers, and it will allow for the continued safe operation of Diablo Canyon," said Jones.
Others agree that Diablo Canyon's future here on the central coast is important but footing the bill isn't the right way to go. Especially when PG&E's profits are huge, reeling in over 1-billion dollars last year according to Forbes. "It's their facility, they should pay for it to be safe not necessarily the customers," said Tanner.
Others said the importance of keeping the plant and the surrounding areas seismically safe is worth the money. "The plant is too complicated and so important that we need to facilitate anything that we can possibly do to keep the plant safe, so I'm more than happy to pay for the seismic studies," said Michael Lowery, a retired Firefighter.
