Critics fear PG&E’s aging Diablo Canyon power plant costs may be twice the initial estimates (NBC Bay Area)

“The cost of keeping the aging Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open five more years could be as much as double what PG&E had first estimated back when a deal was struck two years ago to run it longer to help assure grid reliability, experts say.

Such escalating costs, they fear, could trigger more rate hikes.

…

‘A significant portion of that loan is going to be turned into a gift to PG&E, funded by the taxpayers,’ said Matt Freedman, an attorney with the ratepayer group TURN that has been critical of the deal. Freeman noted that even lawmakers who initially signed off on the loan have recently soured on the deal.

One of them is state Sen. Ben Allen, who said in a hearing in April: ‘It feels like we’re being taken advantage of here, quite frankly.’”

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