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Who guards nuclear power plants around the world, private security, police, or military guards?Oh, I know this one. This is a USA based example, I’ve not been to a plant outside the US.I am a former PG&E employee. PG&E owns the Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP):Diablo Canyon Power PlantTo be clear, I had nothing to do with the nuclear side of the house. However, a nuclear plant also has “regular” non-nuclear things like computers. I worked in IT so I supported the computers that supported the plant.Anyway, we had to travel down to central California (near San Luis Obisbo) where the plant is located.First, just let me say that the plant is VERY SECURE. You are not getting in there.I have been to at least a dozen power plants. Usually, you just check-in at the front gate and show your PG&E ID. They wave you through and that is that.DCPP? No freaking way.Remember, I’m an employee of the company. I still cannot get in unless I have a damn good reason.I have literally been on military bases with lower security.First, you check-in at the outer perimeter gate. This gate is manned by very serious-looking dudes carrying (at the time) M-16’s and tactical gear. You show picture ID and they check you to see if you’re on the list. ONLY IF YOU ARE ON THE LIST you are allowed to drive up to the main facility which is a few miles down a two-lane road. The entire property is fenced and guarded. You cannot see the plant at all from public roads, the only way in via this one road.After you drive a few miles, you come to the main facility. There is a normal-looking parking lot, but then you have to pass through another security checkpoint. Again, armed guards. At the second checkpoint, you are subject to search. You pass through a metal detector and a bomb sniffer. Then, you wait.If you are not nuclear badged, you MUST BE ESCORTED AT ALL TIMES by a “badged employee” who works at the site. No exceptions and this applies to employees of the same company! Yes, this includes going to the bathroom. The rule is that the person escorting you must have you “under observation and control at all times.” My buddy is 6′4″ and 200 lbs. The woman sent to escort him took one look and said, “sorry, you’re not coming in with me, I’ll find someone bigger.” They found a dude who was a Jujitsu instructor and that person was his escort.Once inside, you must badge IN and OUT of all doors. No exceptions. One time someone we were with forgot to badge OUT of a room. When they went to badge IN to the next room, the light went red. Everyone was like “oh, shit.” About 30 seconds later, the dudes with the M-16s show up. They check all our badges and escort the person with the red light to the security office for a debrief. They came back about 30 minutes later after getting lectured on the proper security protocols to use.To summarize, they have private security guards but they are very serious. They are heavily armed and deadly force is authorized to protect the plant and the nuclear material in it.

Frankly, there’s not much of a difference. If you use EBCE to provide the electricity generation, you will still be a “wires” customer of PG&E. Charges from EBCE will just show up on your PG&E bill. The primary difference is that EBCE will choose your energy sources instead of PG&E. Your total rates might be a few percent lower, but mostly the difference is that decisions on what resources will provide that energy is made by EBCE rather than PG&E. Since EBCE is a local governmental entity its decisions are made locally, by a Board of Directors, appointed by the individual jurisdictions in the Joint Powers Authority. The Board holds public meetings to decide things, so you have the opportunity to participate in the decision making process if you really want to. Like most Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs), EBCE focuses on being greener than PG&E, offering several power portfolios that are more renewable and less GHG emitting than PG&E’s. The only downside is that charges from PG&E could go up, making EBCE rates a few percent higher than PG&E’s but not a lot.

I worked for PG&E from 1980 through 1993. One of my first jobs was an an Energy Management Engineer, working with commercial and industrial customers to become energy efficient, actually providing financial incentives (giving them money) to make investments that made them use less of our product. PG&E did this, not out of some generosity or public spiritedness but because the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) required such actions. The way the CPUC made this work was to separate PG&E’s profits from its sales. Rates charged to customers were determined using forecasts of total sales and actual revenues were compared to forecasted revenues. If total sales, and total revenues, were lower than forecasted, the shortage would be included in rates for the next periods. If total sales were higher that forecasted, the excess revenue would roll forward, reducing future rates. The “revenue requirement” is the amount of money that PG&E is authorized to receive. It includes expenses (e.g., purchased energy, payroll, and fuel), depreciation/amortization costs of capital expenditures, and a rate of return on capital assets, which includes debt as well as equity. Expenses are generally passed through at cost, so, in effect, PG&E only makes a profit on the assets they own. Sales revenue doesn’t directly impact profitability. As an incentive to help their customers use their product more efficiently, the CPUC allows them to earn additional profits if they meet various targets in helping their customers use less of their product or use it more efficiently. Bottom line, there really is no conflict of interest to be overcome.