LOS ANGELES (AP) -- California utility regulators have signaled they will launch an investigation later this year into the troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant.
The twin-reactor plant between Los Angeles and San Diego has been shut down for nearly five months after a break in a tube that carries radioactive water. Investigators later found unusual wear on hundreds of tubes running through the plant's steam generators.
California Public Utilities Commission Chairman Michael Peevey said Thursday that the panel has "every intention" of probing the San Onofre shutdown and its possible impact on electricity rates for customers of Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the vote authorizing the probe would be postponed until August.
Peevey says the panel needs more time to gather information.