[V]ERNON – The proposed sale of Vermont Yankee is attracting wide interest, with eight organizations now seeking involvement in the state Public Service Board’s review of the deal.
The latest requests to “intervene” in sale proceedings came from the town of Vernon, the state Agency of Natural Resources, the state attorney general and Associated Industries of Vermont.
Each of those entities filed paperwork on Wednesday, the deadline for submitting such requests. And each is seeking, for different reasons, a chance to more closely scrutinize a first-of-its-kind deal that has spurred both optimism and skepticism.
“There are significant environmental and financial issues at stake in this matter, not only for ratepayers but for all Vermonters,” the attorney general’s intervention request says. “The magnitude of the cleanup required to restore the Vermont Yankee site for unrestricted use warrants participation by the (attorney general) in this proceeding.”
Nearly two years after stopping power production at Vermont Yankee, Entergy in November announced plans to sell the former nuclear plant and its decommissioning trust fund to New York-based NorthStar Group Services Inc.
NorthStar says it can complete decommissioning and restoration on most of the site by 2030 and possibly as soon as 2026. That’s several decades sooner than Entergy had planned.
The sale is supposed to close by the end of 2018, but the deal requires approval from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the state Public Service Board.
Entergy and NorthStar filed an application with the Public Service Board in December. The board’s process will include two public hearings and also offers the chance to “intervene” by becoming a formal party to the state’s review.
Prior to Wednesday’s deadline for such motions, four entities – New England Coalition, Windham Regional Commission, the Conservation Law Foundation and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers – had requested intervenor status.
That number doubled on Wednesday with the addition of four additional organizations. The most detailed application came from the state Agency of Natural Resources, which cited its environmental and financial interests in site restoration at Vermont Yankee.
During a stop in Brattleboro Thursday, Peter Walke, the agency’s deputy secretary, said ANR is focused on cleanup of nonradiological waste at the nuclear plant.
“If NorthStar can do that to our satisfaction, then we think the potential for what they’re offering to the community is great,” Walke said. “But they need to prove that to us.”
Walke also cited the unique nature of the proposed purchase. “We do have some reticence, obviously, because NorthStar is a relatively new player in this game,” he said. “And there haven’t been that many decommissionings … across the country to use as a template.”
Among the specific concerns mentioned in the agency’s motion is NorthStar’s plan to use rubble as fill. That’s expected to be a point of contention as the state considers site restoration standards.
The attorney general’s request for intervention, aside from citing general decommissioning concerns, also says the Vermont Yankee sale is contingent on termination of all pending litigation.
The attorney general’s office says there is one such legal matter remaining – an NRC environmental review related to the state’s challenge of Entergy’s use of the Vermont Yankee decommissioning trust fund.
“Before the attorney general is asked to drop pending litigation as a condition of the sale of Vermont Yankee, the (attorney general’s office) should have a right to participate in this board proceeding on that sale,” the motion says.
Vernon’s intervention request is succinct. The town’s Planning and Economic Development Commission notes that Vernon is Vermont Yankee’s host community, and “whether and/or when it gets decommissioned is more important to (the) town than to any other entity involved.”
Lastly, the Associated Industries of Vermont – a group representing the state’s “industrial and business community” – wants to get involved with the sale review in part due to its “core membership of manufacturers, who are major consumers of electricity.”
Also, the outcome of the Public Service Board’s review “could also have implications for economic development,” the group wrote. “Protecting and promoting conditions for economic development in Vermont is a central part of (the association’s) mission.”
The Public Service Board has granted intervenor status to Windham Regional Commission and the New England Coalition. All other applications are pending, and Entergy and NorthStar have an opportunity to respond.
