The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given the green light for Entergy Corp. to spin off Vermont Yankee and four other nuclear plants to a newly created company.
Regulators rejected critics’ contentions that the new firm – called Enexus Energy Corp. – will be saddled with too much debt to ensure its ability to pay for any needed fixes at the plants or for their eventual decommissioning.
The restructuring affects the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon, the Pilgrim plant in Plymouth, Mass., the Indian Point and FitzPatrick reactors in New York and the Palisades plant in Michigan.
The transaction still requires the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission and state regulators in Vermont and New York.