The Vermont Public Utility Commission on Tuesday canceled a public hearing and set of evidentiary hearings in its review of the proposed sale of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.
The move is intended to give the various parties to the process time to review and discuss a revised financial assurance proposal for the deal from plant owner Entergy and prospective buyer NorthStar Group Services. No new dates were posted Tuesday for the public hearing, which had been scheduled for Thursday in Brattleboro; the pre-evidentiary hearing conference, previously due for Friday at the PUC hearing room in Montpelier; and the evidentiary hearings, no longer planned for Jan. 22 to Feb. 2.
‘All events will be rescheduled as soon as possible and notices will be issued,” according to the PUC notice. In a procedural order issued on Friday, the commission said the public hearing would tentatively be rescheduled to Feb. 8, assuming the space in Brattleboro is available.
A new status report has also been added to the PUC schedule, for Jan. 25 in Montpelier.
Details of the updated financial assurance proposal have not been released.
Three state agencies authorized to participate in the review – the Department of Public Service, Agency of Natural Resources, and Attorney General’s Office – last week requested the delay “to allow negotiations to continue and to ensure that all interested parties have enough time to consider the proposal,” according to a Jan. 12 procedural order from the commission. Entergy and NorthStar opposed the request, calling instead that the evidentiary hearings begin one week later than planned and that the public hearing proceed as scheduled or on Jan. 29.
Vermont Yankee closed in December 2014 following more than four decades of operations. The Public Utility Commission, along with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, must approve the ownership transfer. The companies hope to seal the deal by the end of 2018, after which NorthStar would be in charge of decommissioning and spent fuel management at the plant.
