(Host) The head of Vermont’s largest electric utility said political leaders need to get involved in negotiations over the future of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.
Yankee and the utilities face a November 1st deadline to come up with a power contract.
There is no deal yet. And the CEO of Central Vermont Public Service Corporation says it’s time for the politicians to weigh in.
VPR’s John Dillon reports:
(Dillon) The business group, Associated Industries of Vermont, made Vermont’s energy future the focus of its 89th annual meeting.
And the future holds two big questions marks. Between 2012 and 2015, the state could lose about two-thirds of its current energy supply. Contracts with Hydro-Quebec expire in the next decade. And Entergy Vermont Yankee’s license runs out in 2012.
Yankee wants to operate for another 20 years. But one huge unknown is how much Vermonters will pay for the nuclear power. Bob Young, the CE0 of Central Vermont Public Service, said the ongoing contract negotiations must include the legislature and the governor’s office.
(Young) We are making some progress with Entergy, but very shortly it seems to me, if we’re going to get to the end game here, it is not two utilities at the table, it is the Department of Public Service, it is the Legislature and it is Entergy. Because at the end of the day they have to understand what the trade is going to be in this state, and that trade cannot be made by the utilities alone.
(Dillon) Vermont law gives the Legislature a vote on whether the nuclear plant operates past 2012.
And legislative leaders say they won’t decide next year unless they see the power contract between Yankee and the state’s two largest utilities by November 1st.
East Montpelier Democrat Tony Klein chairs the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee. He told the business audience that lawmakers have to understand the deal before they vote.
(Klein) For us to give permission for the plant to operate for another 20 years without knowing what the economic benefit will be – I think that’s irresponsible.
(Dillon) Klein and Public Service Commissioner David O’Brien said it’s not the state’s job to cut a deal with Vermont Yankee. O’Brien said that’s the utilities’ responsibility.
(O’Brien) Whether it’s Vermont Yankee or any other power supply contract, the fact of the matter is we rely on the utilities. It is their expertise.
(Dillon) But Bob Young of CVPS said the Legislature in the past has sought financial concessions from Yankee. So he said lawmakers and the governor need to be part of the negotiations now.
(Young) Let’s call a spade a spade. Entergy has been in this state now for a number of years. And the Vermont Legislature has extracted finances from them on a number of different occasions. And as they think about their deal with Vermont going forward, they have an interest in and a right to know, is there further extraction coming their way? And that does have an impact on the nature and the quality of the contract they’re willing to negotiate with us. It’s just a plain fact.
(Dillon) Yankee Vice President Jay Thayer said he wasn’t sure the power contract negotiations would be finished by November 1st.
Meanwhile, the utilities said they continue to talk with Hydro Quebec about replacing the contracts that expire in the next decade.
For VPR News, I’m John Dillon in Montpelier.