Entergy just wants to get permission from the legislature to store nuclear waste in Vermont without any conditions and without paying anything."
: " Debate over dry cask fee heats up in House
By CAROLYN LORI�
Reformer Staff
Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - BRATTLEBORO -- The debate over whether Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee should pay the state an annual fee for dry casks storage continues, as a bill on the issue is making its way through the Vermont House of Representatives.
David O'Brien, commissioner of the Department of Public Service, said the Douglas administration does not support the legislation, as the $4 million yearly charge could prompt plant owners to shut the facility down early.
"We don't see the bill, as it's drafted now, as a reasonable solution to the problem," said O'Brien.
Entergy officials threatened to close the plant before its license expires in 2012, if the annual charge makes its continued operation uneconomical. For proprietary reasons, company officials will not release financial data related to the plant.
Using data from the sale of the plant in 2002, however, legislative consultant Richard Cowart estimated the plant will most likely earn a profit of $29 million a year until the end of its license. The company stands to make an additional $40 to $50 million a year if the bid to increase power by 20 percent is approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Because the exact financial state of the plant is not known, however, legislators included a provision in the bill that allows the company to appeal to the Vermont Public Service Board if the annual fee proves to be a financial burden.
The House Ways and Means Committee is considering the bill today.
Rep. Michael Obuchowski, D-Rockingham, chairman of the committee, said he hoped the bill would be voted on by the end the day. It would then be considered by the Appropriations Committee, before going to the House floor for a full vote.
Last Thursday, the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee approved the bill allowing construction of concrete containers, or dry casks, for the storage of spent nuclear fuel at the Vernon plant.
Spent fuel is currently stored in a 40-foot deep pool in the reactor building. It will be filled to capacity by 2008 or 2007, if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves Entergy's bid to increase power by 20 percent.
The casks will be used to store the older -- less "hot" -- fuel assemblies stored in the pool, making way for newer ones that will be taken from the reactor's core during the next refueling outage.
The bill calls for a minimal annual payment of $4 million from Entergy to the state. The money would go into a renewable energy fund, which will be administered by the Vermont Department of Public Service. It would be adjusted every year according to the consumer price index, which is used to gauge inflation.
According to members of the Natural Resources and Energy Committee, who crafted the bill, the charge is a means of offsetting the burden future Vermonters may bear because of the presence of the high-level nuclear waste site.
This burden will be alleviated, reasoned legislators, by redirecting some of the profits made by Entergy -- which stands to benefit from the continued generation of spent nuclear fuel -- into a fund that will move the state towards "varied, reliable, economic and sustainable sources of electricity."
The bill allows for the number of casks needed for the plant to run through the end of its license, which is in 2012. If plant officials want to extend the license of the plant, the bill mandates that they get approval from the Legislature.
Obuchowski said the committee had some concerns about the bill, but didn't think they were major stumbling blocks to getting it passed.
Among them is the method used to come up with the $4 million a year figure.
It was reached by charging Entergy one mill -- one-tenth of one cent -- per kilowatt hour generated at the plant.
According Robert Dostis, D-Waterbury, chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources and Energy, the formula was borrowed by the federal government, which used it to calculate how much nuclear plants had to contribute to a national repository fund for nuclear waste. Each plant made a contribution based on how much power -- and waste -- it generated.
Members of the Ways and Means Committee, said Obuchowski, were concerned that when the federal government was collecting funds based on this formula, it was not only for the storage of waste, but also for the construction of a facility. Vermont will not be contributing to the cost of the dry cask storage facility at Vermont Yankee.
Other areas the committee wants to hear testimony on are the generation charge called for in the bill, and how the renewable energy fund would be accountable.
Obuchowski said he agreed that Entergy should be charged for the installation of dry cask storage but hoped the matter could be settled through an agreement between the state and company, instead of being mandated through legislation.
Negotiations continue between Entergy officials and members of the Committee on Natural Resources and Energy. Neither side will disclose what exactly is being discussed or whether an agreement is close at hand.
O'Brien, with the Department of Public Service, said he was hopeful that an agreement could be reached, as the shut-down of Vermont Yankee would have significant economic consequences for the state.
The plant supplies Vermont with one-third of its electricity and does so at rates that are much lower than the going market-rate. According to O'Brien, if the plant were to shut down today, purchasing power on the open market until 2012 would cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars -- far more than $4 million a year.
Rep. Steve Darrow, D-Putney, however, accused Entergy of using the threat of closing the plant as leverage to get a better deal.
In a letter to the Reformer, Darrow wrote: "Entergy just wants to get permission from the legislature to store nuclear waste in Vermont without any conditions and without paying anything."
By CAROLYN LORI�
Reformer Staff
Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - BRATTLEBORO -- The debate over whether Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee should pay the state an annual fee for dry casks storage continues, as a bill on the issue is making its way through the Vermont House of Representatives.
David O'Brien, commissioner of the Department of Public Service, said the Douglas administration does not support the legislation, as the $4 million yearly charge could prompt plant owners to shut the facility down early.
"We don't see the bill, as it's drafted now, as a reasonable solution to the problem," said O'Brien.
Entergy officials threatened to close the plant before its license expires in 2012, if the annual charge makes its continued operation uneconomical. For proprietary reasons, company officials will not release financial data related to the plant.
Using data from the sale of the plant in 2002, however, legislative consultant Richard Cowart estimated the plant will most likely earn a profit of $29 million a year until the end of its license. The company stands to make an additional $40 to $50 million a year if the bid to increase power by 20 percent is approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Because the exact financial state of the plant is not known, however, legislators included a provision in the bill that allows the company to appeal to the Vermont Public Service Board if the annual fee proves to be a financial burden.
The House Ways and Means Committee is considering the bill today.
Rep. Michael Obuchowski, D-Rockingham, chairman of the committee, said he hoped the bill would be voted on by the end the day. It would then be considered by the Appropriations Committee, before going to the House floor for a full vote.
Last Thursday, the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee approved the bill allowing construction of concrete containers, or dry casks, for the storage of spent nuclear fuel at the Vernon plant.
Spent fuel is currently stored in a 40-foot deep pool in the reactor building. It will be filled to capacity by 2008 or 2007, if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves Entergy's bid to increase power by 20 percent.
The casks will be used to store the older -- less "hot" -- fuel assemblies stored in the pool, making way for newer ones that will be taken from the reactor's core during the next refueling outage.
The bill calls for a minimal annual payment of $4 million from Entergy to the state. The money would go into a renewable energy fund, which will be administered by the Vermont Department of Public Service. It would be adjusted every year according to the consumer price index, which is used to gauge inflation.
According to members of the Natural Resources and Energy Committee, who crafted the bill, the charge is a means of offsetting the burden future Vermonters may bear because of the presence of the high-level nuclear waste site.
This burden will be alleviated, reasoned legislators, by redirecting some of the profits made by Entergy -- which stands to benefit from the continued generation of spent nuclear fuel -- into a fund that will move the state towards "varied, reliable, economic and sustainable sources of electricity."
The bill allows for the number of casks needed for the plant to run through the end of its license, which is in 2012. If plant officials want to extend the license of the plant, the bill mandates that they get approval from the Legislature.
Obuchowski said the committee had some concerns about the bill, but didn't think they were major stumbling blocks to getting it passed.
Among them is the method used to come up with the $4 million a year figure.
It was reached by charging Entergy one mill -- one-tenth of one cent -- per kilowatt hour generated at the plant.
According Robert Dostis, D-Waterbury, chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources and Energy, the formula was borrowed by the federal government, which used it to calculate how much nuclear plants had to contribute to a national repository fund for nuclear waste. Each plant made a contribution based on how much power -- and waste -- it generated.
Members of the Ways and Means Committee, said Obuchowski, were concerned that when the federal government was collecting funds based on this formula, it was not only for the storage of waste, but also for the construction of a facility. Vermont will not be contributing to the cost of the dry cask storage facility at Vermont Yankee.
Other areas the committee wants to hear testimony on are the generation charge called for in the bill, and how the renewable energy fund would be accountable.
Obuchowski said he agreed that Entergy should be charged for the installation of dry cask storage but hoped the matter could be settled through an agreement between the state and company, instead of being mandated through legislation.
Negotiations continue between Entergy officials and members of the Committee on Natural Resources and Energy. Neither side will disclose what exactly is being discussed or whether an agreement is close at hand.
O'Brien, with the Department of Public Service, said he was hopeful that an agreement could be reached, as the shut-down of Vermont Yankee would have significant economic consequences for the state.
The plant supplies Vermont with one-third of its electricity and does so at rates that are much lower than the going market-rate. According to O'Brien, if the plant were to shut down today, purchasing power on the open market until 2012 would cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars -- far more than $4 million a year.
Rep. Steve Darrow, D-Putney, however, accused Entergy of using the threat of closing the plant as leverage to get a better deal.
In a letter to the Reformer, Darrow wrote: "Entergy just wants to get permission from the legislature to store nuclear waste in Vermont without any conditions and without paying anything."
posted by Greta Jane at Tuesday, May 24, 2005
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