PG&E's Diablo Canyon unit 2 returns to service

February 8, 2014


Avila Beach, Calif.— Pacific Gas and Electric Company's (PG&E) Diablo Canyon Power Plant Unit 2 returned to service and began providing electricity to the state's power grid on Feb. 8, 2014.


The unit safely went off line on Feb. 2 after an electrical disturbance resulting from a flashover on a lightning arrestor on the non-nuclear side of the plant. A flashover is an unintended electrical arc.


Upon sensing the disruption last Sunday, Unit 2 performed as designed and automatically went off line to protect equipment.


The lightning arrestor has been replaced.


Unit 1 continues to operate at full power.


About Diablo Canyon Power Plant

Diablo Canyon Power Plant is a nuclear power facility owned and operated by PG&E. Its two units together produce approximately 2,300 net megawatts of carbon-free power. It provides nearly 10 percent of all electricity generated in California, and enough energy to meet the needs of more than three million Northern and Central Californians. Diablo Canyon has a $920 million annual local economic impact and is the largest private employer in San Luis Obispo County.


About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 15 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/.