A proposed timetable was submitted Monday for the Vermont Public Utility Commission to review the proposed sale of the closed Vermont Yankee reactor site from Entergy to NorthStar Group Services.
All but one of the parties authorized to intervene in the PUC review of the sale — including Entergy, NorthStar, three Vermont state agencies, and others — signed a memorandum of understanding Friday to lock in financial and site-restoration guarantees for the deal. The Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation opposed the memorandum signed Friday.
Entergy and NorthStar hope to close the sale by Dec. 31, pending approval from the Vermont PUC and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The companies believe state authorization is needed by the end of July to meet that target.
All the parties, including the Conservation Law Foundation, on Monday signed on to the proposed schedule for the remainder of the PUC process.
All parties would submit prefiled testimony to the commission by Friday. Requests for admission, requests for production, and deposition notices would be filed by March 14. Responses to the requests for admission and production would be filed by March 21.
Depositions would be taken from March 26 to March 30.
Parties not signing on to the memorandum of understanding would submit prefiled testimony by April 10. The Conservation Law Foundation is in this category.
A public hearing would be held April 11, 12, or April 13. The commission has a deadline of April 24 to submit its questions on the memorandum and prefiled testimony. The parties signing the memorandum would answer the Vermont PUC’s questions by May 4. Other parties would respond by May 9.
The evidentiary hearings would be held from May 10 through May 15, with May 16 available if needed.
