By John Stang
The Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) this week postponed a status conference on talks over the sale of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to Feb. 5 because negotiations are still unresolved.
The PUC had scheduled the status conference for Thursday with representatives from plant owner Entergy, prospective buyer NorthStar Group Services, three state agencies, and other nongovernmental entities authorized to intervene in the commission’s review of the deal. It then anticipated setting new dates for a public hearing and evidentiary hearings that had been postponed from January.
However, based on filings from the various parties, “the Commission concluded that it was premature to establish a new schedule for the remainder of this proceeding,” according to a PUC procedural order issued Thursday. That will now happen after the Feb. 5 status conference.
Vermont Yankee closed in December 2014 after more than four decades of operations. Entergy wants to sell the reactor site to NorthStar this year for $1,000. NorthStar would then decommission the reactor and manage the plant’s spent fuel, keeping some portion of the site decommissioning trust fund when its work is done.
NorthStar says it can complete decommissioning as early as 2026 at a cost of just over $811 million, but other parties have expressed concern about its financial ability to meet that target. At issue in the current discussions is a revised financial assurance proposal from the two companies.
Details of the updated document have not been made public.
Entergy and NorthStar told the commission there is still no signed memorandum of understanding or settlement with the other parties, but that they “are hopeful that such a signing will occur within a short period of time,” according to the procedural order. The companies acknowledged the potential for talks to “break down” as well.
“The State Parties reported that negotiations concerning an amended proposal of the joint petitioners ‘have proceeded in earnest’ and are continuing,” the PUC stated.
All of the intervening parties submitted proposed schedules for the rest of the commission review. The PUC, in its latest order, directed the companies and the state agencies to file status updates by Feb. 1.
“The Commission appreciates that the February 5 date for a status conference may not be convenient for representatives of all parties and will consider any filed motion to reschedule the status conference to a later date,” the PUC said.
The Vermont PUC and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission must both approve the sale. The federal agency has said it expects to complete its review of the Vermont Yankee license transfer request in the first quarter of this year.
