New York-based NorthStar can continue participating in a public review of the Kewaunee Power Station’s sale to EnergySolutions, and the review need not be restricted to the acquirer’s finances, according to a transcript released Tuesday.
During a Nov. 3 prehearing conference held by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (WPSC), Administrative Law Judge Michael Newmark ruled that the commission’s review of the potential sale of Kewaunee Power Station to EnergySolutions from Dominion Energy can include discussion of WPSC’s rationale for approving the transaction, the transcript says.
“The Commission will need a reason to make the decision in the end [and] providing that reason … is going to be required and useful for the ultimate decision,” Newmark said.
Lawyers representing EnergySolutions and plant owner Dominion took issue with intervenor NorthStar’s request to include WPSC’s rationale in the proceedings, saying that the company was looking to make a “public interest” argument out of the sale.
Bradley Jackson, lawyer for the utility Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, said that NorthStar “want[s] to turn this into a public interest determination.” The only issue that should be covered in WPSC’s review, Jackson argued, is “whether the new owner has sufficient financial resources to operate the plant.”
“Northstar is not in this proceeding to make sure that the Wisconsin ratepayer is protected. Northstar is in this proceeding for its own competitive interest,” said Jordan Hemaidan, counsel for Dominion
New York-based NorthStar was allowed to participate in WPSC proceedings in September. The company has said that it could decommission the Carlton, Wisc., Kewaunee plant at a significantly lower cost than EnergySolutions.
NorthStar’s counsel Justin Chasco said Nov. 3 that the decommissioning company wasn’t looking for a public interest judgement. “It’s clear based on the opposition and our intervention that the applicants would like a very narrow view of [the sale], and we disagree with the fact that the Commission would have no consideration to whether the $750 million in a trust fund is going to be spent prudently,” he said.
Dominion agreed to sell Kewaunee to EnergySolutions for decommissioning in May. The WPSC needs to approve the transaction before it can be finalized. There’s no deadline for the sale to be approved, WPSC has said.
