Parties to a settlement agreement and memorandum of understanding for the planned sale of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant are allowing another month to secure final regulatory approval necessary for the deal.
The new date at which parties are authorized to withdraw from the settlement, if the Vermont Public Utility Commission has not ruled on the sale, has been pushed back from Oct. 31 to Nov. 30, according to an amendment filed Tuesday with the state body. The deadline had already been postponed from July 31.
The single-reactor nuclear power plant closed in December 2014, and owner Entergy announced plans nearly two years later to sell it to decommissioning specialist NorthStar Group Services. The new owner would take possession of the plant’s decommissioning trust fund and all responsibility for cleanup and spent fuel management. NorthStar says it can complete decommissioning as early as 2026 at a cost of roughly $811 million.
The companies filed a license transfer application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in February 2017; the agency issued its approval earlier this month.
As part of the effort to secure state approval for the sale, the companies made a number of financial and decommissioning commitments in a settlement with the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and other state agencies, several nongovernmental groups, and additional parties. Entergy and NorthStar had hoped the Public Utility Commission would issue its decision within 30 days of the federal ruling or by Oct. 31. However, VPUC declined to commit to that schedule.
“The Public Utility Commission’s Procedural Order dated October 24, 2018 stated, inter alia, that the Commission ‘will seek to issue a decision resolving this case in a timely manner but cannot commit to issue a decision in this matter by October 31, 2018 … or within 30 days of notification of the NRC ruling,’” the amendment says. “In light of this guidance, the parties to the memorandum of understanding … have entered into an amendment to that document, and a corresponding amendment to the settlement agreement among those same parties and the Vermont Department of Health.”
In a conference call Wednesday to discuss the company’s latest earnings report, Entergy CEO Leo Denault reaffirmed hopes for a state ruling by the end of this month.
“The [NRC] decision is also an important milestone for the nuclear decommissioning industry, and we are pleased with this outcome and encouraged by the NRC’s acceptance of this transaction model,” Denault told financial analysts. “The sale of nuclear plants post-shutdown will benefit stakeholders and our industry by accelerating the decommissioning time line, drawing on industry-leading decommissioning and site remediation expertise and experience and laying the foundation for potential future business development opportunities in the regions.”
Entergy also plans to sell its Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey, which closed last month, and Palisades Power Plant in Michigan, which is due to be retired in 2022. New Jersey-based energy technology company Holtec International would assume ownership of both plants for decommissioning. The power company is also preliminarily looking at selling off its Indian Point Energy Center in upstate New York, which is scheduled for closure in 2022, Chief Financial Officer Andrew Marsh said.
