November 14, 2024
Business

Vermont Yankee sale terms protested

Eleventh-hour protests to the sale of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant continued Tuesday, one day before the sale was to close.

At issue was how much out-of-state owners will get back from a fund to pay for closing down the plant when it eventually is retired.

Vermont utility regulators made their approval conditional on Vermont owners getting back all of their share of leftover money in the fund, now worth $300 million.

But the out-of-state owners, who own 45 percent of the plant, are to share in a one-time, $1.5 million payment, which some say is too little.

In Massachusetts, the attorney general’s office said regulators in that state should hold hearings on the issue.

In Maine, Public Advocate Stephen Ward said out-of-state owners – and their customers – should get more than a share of the $1.5 million. Ward suggested compensation based on each part-owner’s contributions to the fund.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission was to decide Tuesday whether to allow a challenge based on Ward’s concerns.

The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission was considering a similar request from three nonprofits, the Campaign for Ratepayers Rights, the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation and the New Hampshire Public Interest Research Group.


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