The Vermont Public Service Board has authorized 11 entities, from a labor union to several state agencies, to intervene in Entergy’s proposed sale of the shuttered Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station to a New York company for expedited decommissioning.
The latest, and seemingly last, approved intervenor is the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, on March 24. That follows Public Service Board OK of intervention by stakeholders including the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, state Agency for Natural Resources; the town of Vernon Planning Commission; the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 300; the Elnu Abenaki Tribe, the New England Coalition, and the Windham Regional Commission.
The PSB authorizes intervention by individuals or groups that can show a significant interest in the matter. This gives them the ability to participate as full parties in the board’s review of the sale, including offering testimony and submitting requests for information during the discovery process., according to T. Michael Twomey, vice president for external affairs at Entergy Wholesale Commodities.
Entergy and planned plant buyer NorthStar Group Services only opposed intervention by the Abenaki Nation, noting that its motion was filed after the March 1 deadline for timely intervention.
The companies have received the first discovery requests from five intervenors and officially have until April 5 to submit their responses under the schedule set by the Public Service Board. However, on Wednesday they requested an extension to April 26.
Vermont Yankee closed in 2014, and Entergy hopes to complete the sale by the end of 2018, pending approval by the PSB and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NorthStar could shave decades off the time needed to decommission the plant, according to the companies.
