SLO LIFE FebMar 2020

JANUARY ’20
1/10
PG&E announces a compromise settlement with consumer advocacy
groups on a shutdown budget for Diablo Canyon, California’s last
remaining nuclear power plant. The settlement will cost PG&E ratepayers
$112.5 million a year through 2027, and the money will cover (among other
expenses) the cost of spent nuclear fuel disposal and site clean-up. The
utility originally sought $4.8 billion to close the plant, due to be shuttered
in 2025. If the settlement is approved by the Public Utilities Commission,
electric bills will increase about 59 cents a month per customer. The
settlement also calls for PG&E to seek ways to transfer spent fuel to dry
storage within four years of the shut-off, instead of waiting seven years as
previously anticipated.
1/1
The animated, fifty-foot-long float designed and built by
teams of students from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal
Poly Pomona wins the prestigious Director Award for most
outstanding artistic design and use of floral and non-floral
materials at the 131st Rose Parade. Featuring a submarine
exploring a sunken shipwreck that is home to a colorful array of
marine wildlife, the playful “Aquatic Aspirations” was adorned
with 23,000 blooms ranging from blue irises to pink Gerbera
daisies to purple roses and multi-colored protea flowers. Since
1948, Cal Poly entries have earned fifty-seven awards.
1/13
Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP) becomes the new primary
electricity provider for the cities of San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay,
partnering with PG&E to deliver affordable electricity service. Customers
in these communities will continue to receive only one electric bill from
PG&E, but it will include both MBCP charges for electric generation and
PG&E charges for transmission and distribution. In 2021, the not-forprofit
MBCP also will begin service to the cities of Arroyo Grande, Grover
Beach, Paso Robles, and Pismo Beach.
1/14
County Supervisors renew the San Luis Obispo County
Tourism Marketing District, managed by the nonprofit
organization Visit SLO CAL, for a ten-year period through
June 2030. The SLOCTMD, established in 2015 for a
five-year period originally set to expire in June 2020, is a
per-night assessment on all lodging in the county, including
the seven incorporated cities. It generates funds to create a
unified tourism marketing approach and to promote a greater
awareness of the county to potential visitors. Visit SLO CAL
recently conducted a return on investment study that showed
that for every $1 spent in marketing by the organization, an
average of $40 in economic impact is created in the county.
1/18
Promoting the theme “The Time Is Now,” the fourth annual Women’s March
in San Luis Obispo draws an estimated 6,000 participants urging voters to
go to the polls in 2020 and show their support for women’s rights, social and
environmental justice, Black Lives Matter, and LGBTQIA rights. Organizers
say they hope to inspire young people to take action and know they can make
change happen in the United States and around the world. SLO LIFE
FEB/MAR 2020 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | 27