Southern California announced this morning that it is shutting down the troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times. The move comes 17 months after the plant was closed because of steam generator problems. The plant is mostly owned by Edison, but San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) owns 20% of it. It has been serving about 1.4 million Southern California households, including many in San Diego County.

"We have concluded hat the continuing uncertainty about when or if [the plant] might return to service was not good for our customers, our investors, or the need to plan for the region's long-term electricity needs," said Ted Craver, chairman and chief executive of Edison International, parent of Southern California Edison, according to the Times. Edison and SDG&E spent more than $780 million replacing the steam generators several years. Ratepayers have been hit with these charges, and that has led to a number of bitter complaints over whether ratepayers should be responsible for paying for management mistakes.

I am getting the Edison statement shortly and will have more responses. Best, Don Bauder