The latest round of funding from a former Vermont Yankee insurance policy will support solar projects around the state as well as a small hydropower system in Waterbury.
The Vermont Public Service Board has approved Green Mountain Power’s plans for using more than $300,000 from a Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited fund to support renewable energy projects. The periodic insurance fund allocation stems from the fact that GMP formerly had an ownership stake in the now-defunct Vernon plant.
“These are funds that come back to the original owners,” Green Mountain Power spokeswoman Dorothy Schnure said. “And those funds, we use to benefit customers.”
Prior to Entergy’s purchase of Vermont Yankee in 2002, the plant was owned by Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. Based on their ownership shares in that corporation, Central Vermont Public Service Corp. and Green Mountain Power each received a portion of the proceeds from the plant’s sale.
Even after Entergy took control of the plant, Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. remained in existence. The corporation is now wholly owned by Green Mountain Power.
When the state approved the sale of Vermont Yankee, officials noted that Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. likely would continue to receive money from various sources. That included future refunds from the investments of Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited, which had provided coverage for the plant.
The Public Service Board decided in 2002 that “a significant portion” of those insurance fund allocations should go toward “the development and use of renewable resources,” documents show. To that end, Green Mountain Power’s plans for spending the insurance reimbursements must be vetted by organizations such as the Vermont Public Service Department, Renewable Energy Vermont, Citizens Awareness Network and the Conservation Law Foundation.
According to a March 30 order from the Public Service Board, all of those groups have thrown their support behind Green Mountain Power’s latest plan for a $302,778 allocation from the former insurance fund.
Officials say Green Mountain Power will use $240,000 for grants supporting solar power projects for nonprofits, municipalities and schools.
Schnure said that’s a continuation of the Vermont Yankee fund’s legacy. “There have been a lot of renewable energy projects that have been funded by this,” she said.
An additional $60,000 will go toward a micro-hydro system planned for Waterbury’s village drinking water system, documents show.
Bill Woodruff, Waterbury’s public works director, said Friday that officials had been waiting for word of the Green Mountain Power grant. The hydro project’s total cost has been estimated at $137,200.
News of the grant “is certainly encouraging,” Woodruff said. “Without it, the future of the project would be in doubt.”
Woodruff said a study has shown that a small hydroelectric system is feasible and would serve two important roles: reducing pressure within the system while saving the municipality money.
“Whatever energy we could produce would be used to offset our electric bill,” Woodruff said.
“We are excited to generate renewable energy from our water system,” he added.
