I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4394 
To ensure the continued operation of the Diablo Canyon power plant, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 9, 2021 
Mr. NUNES (for himself, Mr. MCCARTHY, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. 
GARCIA of California, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. OBERNOLTE, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, 
Mr. ISSA, Mrs. STEEL, and Mrs. KIM of California) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce 
A BILL 
To ensure the continued operation of the Diablo Canyon 
power plant, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Energy Protec-
tion Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Between 2010 and 2020, California’s elec-
tricity prices jumped by 39.5 percent, which was the 
biggest increase of any State in the United States. 
(2) In 2020, electricity prices increased by 7.5 
percent in California, and electricity prices were the 
third highest in the continental United States. 
(3) Higher electricity prices affect the poor the 
most, including those who are aging, ill, and on fixed 
incomes. 
(4) More than 800,000 homes and businesses in 
California lost power in August 2020. 
(5) One third of California’s energy is imported 
from other States, and such States may choose to 
serve their own citizens first as was the case in 
2020, leaving Californians in the dark. 
(6) State regulators in 2013 closed the San 
Onofre nuclear power plant that supplied electricity 
to 1.4 million households. 
(7) Following the closure of the San Onofre nu-
clear power plant, CO2 from California-based elec-
tricity greenhouse gas generation started increasing. 
(8) In 2018, former California Governor Jerry 
Brown issued Executive Order B–55–18, mandating 
that California achieve carbon neutrality no later 
than 2045. 
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(9) In 2018, California regulators approved the 
request to shut down both of Diablo Canyon’s nu-
clear reactors, totaling 2,240 megawatts, when their 
operating licenses expire in 2024 and 2025. Cali-
fornia regulators also made a commitment to pre-
vent an increase in global warming emissions due to 
Diablo Canyon’s closure, which was codified into law 
by the State legislature in 2018. 
(10) Diablo Canyon produces about 18,000 
gigawatt-hours of electricity annually, which ac-
counts for nearly 10 percent of California’s electric 
generation. 
(11) Based on the California Association of 
Independent Operators modeling assessment of the 
California Public Utilities Commission’s 38 million 
metric ton greenhouse gas target portfolio, the 2025 
closure of Diablo Canyon power plant would con-
tribute to a significant resource deficiency totaling 
3,493 megawatts in effective capacity in 2026. 
(12) Nuclear energy generates nearly 20 per-
cent of the electricity in the United States, providing 
more than 50 percent of the carbon-free electricity 
in the United States. 
(13) A report by the Brattle Group found that 
the nuclear energy industry annually avoids more 
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