The state’s two largest utilities have sued Entergy, the corporation that operates the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station, for a breach of contract based on two cooling tower failures in 2007 and 2008.
A complaint filed by Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service in state court Monday accuses Entergy of failing to follow “Good Utility Practice.”
The complaint states that the company’s failure to maintain, repair and improve the cooling towers caused them to fail in 2007 and 2008. The utilities are asking for $6.6 million to cover the increased power costs and lost power capacity along with attorney’s fees.
A tower first failed on Aug. 21, 2007, causing the plant to reduce its output by 65 percent for 11 days. According to a subsequent investigation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, over-tightened bolts and salt and fungal degradation caused the failure. Failed pipe supports in the tower caused the 2008 collapse. Subsequent photos of the failed towers went viral on the Internet and created a public relations nightmare for Entergy.
The complaint says this reduced power output from Vermont Yankee deprived the utilities of electricity due under an agreement between the utilities and the power plant.
Dottie Schnure, a spokeswoman for Green Mountain Power, said the lawsuit aims to hold Entergy accountable under the contract for its obligation to supply power under the agreement. She said the utility is seeking reimbursement for its customers. Schnure said the utilities tried to reach a settlement with Entergy, but could not agree. With the statute of limitations about the run, the utilities opted to take action.
The complaint focuses on a lack of hands-on inspections as a major factor in the collapse of the cooling towers.
Larry Smith, a spokesman for Vermont Yankee, said he could not comment on pending litigation.
The agreement between Entergy and the utilities expires this year, and Green Mountain Power plans to replace some of that need with power from the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire.
The complaint comes at a time when all eyes are on Vermont District Court Judge Garvin Murtha, who is expected to rule on a case any day now that could decide the fate of the aging nuclear power facility. Entergy has challenged a Vermont law that states the Vermont Public Service Board cannot re-issue the Vermont Yankee certificate of public good without approval from the legislature. While the Vermont legislature voted not to approve a new license, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted to approve a new license. Entergy argues the Vermont laws are unconstitutional because the Atomic Energy Act vests the NRC with exclusive authority over relicensing the plant.
Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service are also in the midst of a proceeding before the Public Service Board, which will decide whether to approve their petition to merge into one entity.
Schnure said the timing of the case against Entergy is unrelated to either of these issues.
The last time Green Mountain Power entered a legal dispute with a distribution utility was in 1998, when it held an arbitration with Hydro-Quebec for failing to live up to its end of a contract during an ice storm that downed major transmission lines in Quebec.