Allowing Nuclear Power to Qualify as a Renewable Energy Source
Under the State’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard
WHEREAS ACA 18, a California constitutional amendment would create fairness in the renewable energy market;
WHEREAS ACA 18, if enacted, would allow nuclear power to qualify as a renewable energy source under the state’s renewables energy portfolio standard;
WHEREAS California’s climate change laws do not allow all types of carbon emission-free sources of power to be counted towards emissions goals;
WHEREAS state law effectively picks and chooses winners and losers in the renewable energy marketplace;
WHEREAS the state law excludes certain types of emission-free power sources, like nuclear and large-scale hydro projects from its Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS);
WHEREAS basic principles of fairness demand that all carbon-free power is counted including nuclear and large hydro towards the state’s climate goals;
WHEREAS it will be extremely difficult if not impossible for the state to meet its 2030 and 2045 climate goals without counting nuclear and large hydro;
WHEREAS Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant currently produces nine percent of the state’s power without any carbon emissions, and is recognized by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as one of the best-performing plants in the United States;
WHEREAS Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant is the only operational plant in California and is slated for closure in 2025;
WHEREAS both nuclear power and large hydropower must play an important role in the state’s transition to an emission-free energy grid;
WHEREAS future generations and present ratepayers deserve nothing less than an all of the above approach;
WHEREAS ACA 18 would prohibit the legislature from discriminating against any form of renewable or zero-carbon energy as part of it RPS moving forward, and would allow the state to start counting nuclear energy as part of its climate goals;
WHEREAS thereby giving a potentially re-licensed Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant an opportunity to stay operational past 2025 and provide ratepayers with a cheap and constant source of energy for decades to come; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Republican Party of San Luis Obispo County supports the pro-nuclear Constitutional Amendment ACA 18 allowing nuclear power to qualify as a renewable energy source under the state’s renewables energy portfolio standard.
Adopted by RPSLO September 18, 2019