The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $1.1 billion to Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) to extend the life of California’s last remaining nuclear power plant. The decision could further minimize natural gas consumption in the nation’s most populous state.

PG&E’s 2.2 GW Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP) in San Luis Obispo County provides about 17% of California’s carbon-free electricity and 9% of the state’s total electricity. Funding to keep DCPP running through 2030 comes from the DOE’s Civil Nuclear Credit program.

DOE approved the allocation as “shifting energy markets and other economic factors have already forced the early closure of 13 commercial nuclear power reactors across the United States, and more economically strained facilities may cease...