SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay), released the following letter, urging the California Coastal Commission to require strong environmental mitigation as part of the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) proposal to extend operations at Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP) through 2030.
December 5, 2025
California Coastal Commission
455 Market Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94105
RE: Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) Application for Extended Operations of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP); Continued Hearing Date - December 11, Hearing Items Th8b and Th9a
Dear Chair Harmon and Commissioners:
As the Assemblymember representing California's 30th Assembly District, which encompasses Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP), the only current State Legislator living within an evacuation zone of an operational nuclear power plant, and a former Morro Bay City Councilmember, I have been highly engaged on the adequate mitigation that is necessary to achieve consistency of the proposed DCPP extension with the California Coastal Act and federal Coastal Zone Management Act. As you know, the environmental mitigation being discussed during your December 2025 meeting is one (although not the only) important part of the proposed DCPP extension to 2030, under SB 846 (Dodd, Chapter 239, Statutes of 2022).
For the November 6, 2025 Coastal Commission ("Commission") meeting where environmental mitigation was discussed at length, you received public comment from dozens of individuals, numerous organizations, and me. I shared my perspective that, consistent with California's long-standing environmental leadership and a decades-long desire from the community, a Coastal Development Permit (CDP) from the Commission should only be approved once it contains strong mitigation measures that reflect the values and needs of the surrounding tribal and local communities who depend on our coastal regions for environmental health, biodiversity, and economic vitality. At that time, and today, I strongly urged comprehensive mitigation under the Commission's purview that includes the following:
- Transfer of the underlying fee title for Wild Cherry Canyon (for which I successfully worked to allocate $40 million in 2024) to State Parks or a non-profit conservation group;
- Full establishment of conservation easements across the entire North and South Ranches; and
- Endowment and management of public access trails for all Diablo Canyon lands.
I am pleased that the new Commission staff recommendations move a step closer towards the environmental mitigation that I previously laid out. Additionally, I deeply appreciate the hard work by staff and PG&E to listen to the community, and to improve the mitigation package.
North Ranch
I applaud and agree with PG&E's proposal to immediately place all of the 4,500 acres of the North Ranch lands (with the exception of 100 acres that are located within the plant's security buffer) into a conservation easement, and transfer fee title to a public agency such as State Parks; dedicate public access trail easements for 25 miles of new trail alignments, including extension of the existing trails and a through-trail connection; and provide $10 million to be used for planning, construction, management and maintenance of public access trails. Together, these mitigation efforts will result in over a 50% expansion of Montaña de Oro State Park, create unrivaled coastal public access for generations, and protect critical coastal resources.
Wild Cherry Canyon
As stated in my previous letter, conservation of North Ranch alone does not meet the mitigation needs. Therefore, I continue to ask that the Commission require the transfer of the Wild Cherry Canyon underlying fee-title interest to a government agency such as State Parks or a non-profit conservation group. This must be done now, not in 2030.
In 2024, I successfully worked to secure $40 million of SB 846 conservation funding for the purpose of conserving Wild Cherry Canyon. These funds are readily available, but will expire in 2029, with no guarantee for reallocation given the historical state budget deficit that California faces. Therefore the Commission should require, as part of environmental mitigation, that PG&E/Eureka Energy transfer its underlying fee-title interest immediately to a government agency such as State Parks or a non-profit conservation group so that these funds can be put to use conserving Wild Cherry Canyon prior to the 2029 deadline.
South Ranch:
As stated in my previous letter, conservation of South Ranch is critical as part of full mitigation needed for the Commission to award a CDP for continued operation of DCPP through 2030. Additionally, as I stated previously, it is my belief that the commitments of SB 846 should be fulfilled prior to any consideration of an extension of DCPP beyond 2030. While PG&E asserts that a conservation easement for the entirety of South Ranch could become a burden to PG&E ratepayers, as expressed by Commissioner Vice Chair Hart at the November 6 hearing, this is highly speculative and non-factual. Therefore, I encourage the Commission to require mitigation that protects the entire South Ranch, including establishment of the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) for purchase of all 5,000 acres of South Ranch by a governmental agency, or nonprofit land conservation organization, including yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash nonprofit, with a conservation easement as part of that right of refusal, and to do this as soon as feasible before 2030.
Conservation of Diablo Canyon Lands under SB 846 is only one piece of a large puzzle that affects the well-being of the people and the economy of our local community and the State of California. Numerous additional unresolved issues rightfully concern our communities including: PG&E's $1.4 billion loan yet to be repaid; seismic safety issues; spent nuclear fuel storage planning; unitary tax shortfall for the county, school district, cities and special districts; and numerous other concerns. Today, I ask the Commission to help solve the environmental piece of the puzzle by ensuring the true mitigation that is necessary, realistic, and that upholds existing state law.
In closing, I sincerely appreciate the expanded mitigation proposal by PG&E and the efforts by the Coastal Commission staff to move us in the right direction. Thank you for your extensive and thoughtful consideration of this matter.
Respectfully,
Dawn Addis
Assemblymember, 30th District
Dawn Addis was elected to the California State Assembly in 2022 to represent the coastal 30th Assembly District, which includes San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and Santa Cruz Counties. She is the Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee 1 on Health.
CONTACT: Alexis Garcia-Arrazola, (916) 319-2030