This story by Susan Smallheer was first published in the Brattleboro Reformer on Aug 5, 2026.
VERNON — The chairman of the Vernon Selectboard told townspeople Tuesday evening that he believes that PowerTransitions, the Texas company investigating redevelopment of the Vermont Yankee site, is leaning toward a battery-storage facility, rather than other power options.
“Battery storage is the most likely,” Brandon Bucossi told a joint meeting of the selectboard and the Vernon Planning Commission, saying he based his belief on earlier public statements by PowerTransitions. Bucossi said he would reach out to Carrie Hitt, the PowerTransitions contact person, about the town’s desire for a public meeting with Vernon residents — and the sooner the better.
PowerTransitions has leased the redevelopment rights to the Yankee site from NorthStar Group Services. The site is still undergoing decommissioning but it is expected to be completed either late this year or next year. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission then has to approve the decommissioning.
Several people at the meeting expressed concern with PowerTransitions, saying the company has to “earn our trust.” Townspeople said they want promises in writing that PowerTransitions will not do anything without the town’s support and approval.
Bucossi, in a follow-up interview, said that based on his recent conversations with townspeople the least popular option is data centers, which have been criticized by national reports as being big consumers of electricity, users of lots of water and noisy.
He said PowerTransitions in earlier meetings had publicly stated that the battery storage was what they were pursuing. The other options were a small, modular nuclear reactor, or a data center.
Hitt, in a telephone interview on Wednesday, said that PowerTransitions had not made any decision about which option to pursue, although Bucossi said the company in earlier Vernon meetings had made clear a battery storage facility was first on its list.
“They’ve said so publicly at several meetings,” he said.
Hitt said that PowerTransitions is more than happy to come to Vernon and have a public meeting with residents, and she said she had repeatedly offered to do so. No one from PowerTransitions was at Tuesday’s meeting.
Selectboard member Jim Pinkerton, who is also a member of the town’s Planning Commission, said that PowerTransitions got off on the wrong foot with Vernon when it went to state officials and the Windham Regional Commission first — rather than come to Vernon and explain its plans.
“I want you guys to commit that you will come first to the town,” Pinkerton said.
“That’s understood Jim,” said NorthStar employee Corey Daniels.
Vernon Selectboard member Shelli Harvey said she had just received a copy of the lease PowerTransitions has with NorthStar Group Services, which owns the Vermont Yankee site, and has since 2019 when it bought the closed nuclear plant from Entergy Nuclear.
She said that during her quick reading of the lease, she didn’t see a promise in writing that Vernon’s wishes would be followed.
“We’re in a trust-building stage,” she said.
Maddy Arms, a member of the Vernon Planning Commission, said that PowerTransitions is “going to have to convince us” that whatever it decides to pursue will make sense financially for the town.
“I think the town needs to know clearly what the benefits are,” she said.
Two NorthStar employees, David Pearson and Daniels, who attended the meeting, tried to reassure Vernon officials and residents on some issues, but didn’t speak for PowerTransitions.
Daniels said the company is trying to resolve a boundary issue near the Governor Hunt House community center, which would be surveyed and leased to the Friends of Vernon, pending the final Nuclear Regulatory Commission OK of decommissioning, when any new boundaries could be approved. The Friends of Vernon now owns the Governor Hunt House, which was given to the group by NorthStar a few years ago.
NorthStar and PowerTransitions earlier this summer had created some bad feelings — which were mentioned again Tuesday night — when a house on Gov. Hunt Road bordering the Yankee site and owned by NorthStar was put up for sale and a resident took steps to buy it, only to have PowerTransitions exercise its option and pull the plug on that transaction. NorthStar ended up reimbursing the resident for her costs on the failed sale.
