San Onofre Nuclear Plant is Closing !

Does it pencil out? Probably not, under the site's weather and shade impairments, current utility rates, and current expiration date of the production incentives. But it is something I've wanted for many years, and reroofing set up a good foundation and opened a new window of opportunity. I skipped a proper site survey, swag'ed that it was close enough for my purposes, and will track production for a year before deciding about expansion.

Cost? I'm in for just over $5k right now (not including the roof, which was done different to better set up for PV) for a 1.6kW starter system, strictly DIY. A sales tax refund should pull it under $5k. Some of that is for overhead that won't repeat with the first expansion to 4.6kW. The second expansion will need to upgrade some of the electrical support.

Incentives? 30% federal income tax credit. But because it is non-refundable, and I'm pretending to be retired now, collecting will require creating more income, such as Rothifying some retirement money. No state sales tax on small PV system installations through June 30, though most of the parts were acquired through channels that will require a separate filling to get a refund. Net metering forever, so it reduces my electric bill immediately, and excess production in summer is carried forward to offset winter electric consumption. Plus a state production incentive of $0.15/kWh through 6/30/2020. Equipment made in-state could push that to $0.36-0.54/kWh, but much of that value is rolled into the initial purchase price, and I don't know that it can be recovered with my particular site impairments.

There appears to also be a separate $0.02/kWh market to sell RECs (renewable energy credits), but I will probably skip that, choosing instead to run my own house on renewable energy.

It began unofficial operation several weeks ago, as one two-month billing cycle was ending, so actual results won't be available for some time. But with peak production season and minimum consumption season here right now, the main meter is barely creeping forward compared to past summers. The official production meter arrive just a few hours ago, so official credited production is still zero.

 

Quote from a commenter on UT San Diego "This will be one of the first and most important time the U.S. has to face the real costs of nuclear power, which has been ignored or swept under the rug for 60 years. Is it really safe to store tons of highly radioactive depleted fuel rod nuclear waste in water ponds at the San Onofre site for the next 100 years? Who is going to be held accountable for monitoring and maintaining the nuclear waste? How much will all this cost?"

 

What to do with a decommissioned nuclear plant?

How about converting it to a gas fired plant? The installation already has electric generators and all the grid connection it needs. The facility has to be maintained for centuries, so why not do something useful with it?

Just install a gas fired steam generation system instead of the nuclear steam generator.

What am I missing?

 

The decade long CA regulations and vetting process necessary for any power plant or power plant modification. Just getting a Natural Gas Pipeline installed would take a decade in that densely crowded part of the state. It might happen, but starting now will have nothing allowed for many, many years.