A plan by Vermont Yankee nuclear plant’s owner to spin off five nuclear reactors under a new company could be in jeopardy because of Wall Street’s financial crisis.
Entergy Corp. wants to fold the plants into Enexus Energy Corp., a new company. To do the deal, Enexus – a publicly traded Delaware holding company – must raise $4.5 billion to buy the nuclear plants in New York, Vermont, Michigan and Massachusetts from Entergy. Entergy, in turn, would retain half ownership in Enexus.
The Vermont Public Service Board has held technical hearings on the spinoff deal, and is expected to render a decision by month’s end.
Entergy spokesman Alex Schott said the company plans to forge ahead with the deal this quarter, but some wonder whether the condition of credit markets will stand in the way.
Department of Public Service spokesman Stephen Wark says there’s no doubt the market upheavals are on regulators’ minds, especially since the Enexus proposal carries a large amount of debt.