Vermont Yankee files power price deal

> MONTPELIER, Vt. (The Associated Press) - Dec 18 - By JOHN CURRAN
> Associated Press Writer
>
> Under pressure to make their case for a 20-year license extension,
> Vermont Yankee's owners Friday outlined their proposal for a new power
> purchase agreement with state utilities, but lawmakers and the
> utilities denounced it as insufficient.
>
> In a filing with the state Board of Public Service, Entergy Corp.
> said the
> offer is for 115 megawatts at a starting price of 6.1 cents per
> kilowatt-hour over 20 years, compared with 4.2 cents currently. That
> would mean a boost in electric rates for consumers, but it's unclear
> how much.
>
> If the plant gets permission to operate past 2012 and Green Mountain
> Power Corp. and Central Vermont Public Service Corp. agree to it, the
> proposal would replace part of a revenue-sharing agreement that gives
> those utilities a share in the sale of power above a certain price
> from 2012 to 2022.
>
> By Entergy's reckoning, the proposal would provide $500 million in
> benefits to Vermonters.
>
> Importantly, it was officially made by Enexus Energy Corp., the
> spinoff company that plant owner Entergy is seeking to form to run six
> of its nuclear plants. But regulators in New York and Vermont still
> must sign off on that deal. So, in effect, Exexus does not yet exist.
>
> The filing letter said the conditions of the power purchase offer
> hinge on approval of the Enexus spinoff. That's one of the sticking
> points for lawmakers, who hold the key to re-licensing under a unique
> provision in state law and who said Friday the Enexus proposal is
> inadequate.
>
> The kilowatt-hour price is too high, the proposal includes no
> provision for shoring up Vermont Yankee's depleted decommissioning
> fund and it was made by a company that in effect does not exist yet,
> according to state Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin.
>
> "You've got a price that is 50 percent higher than utilities are
> paying now, it is a price that is almost double what the market price
> of power is today and what it's projected to be for the next five
> years and it's not for a whole lot of power," said state Rep. Tony
> Klein, D-East Montpelier, who chairs the House Natural Resources and
> Energy Committee.
>
> The spot market price Friday was between 3 1/2 and 4 cents per
> kilowatt hour.
>
> The utilities, meanwhile, said the proposal gives them no more value
> than that revenue-sharing agreement, which is already in place.
>
> "We believe that this particular proposed swap fails to make our
> customers better off," said Bob Young, president of Rutland-based
> CVPS. "Since we already have the value of the RSA if the plant is
> relicensed, any new arrangement must provide incremental value to our
> customers."
>
> Mary Powell, president and CEO of Green Mountain Power, had a similar
> view.
>
> "Entergys offer reflects the revenue sharing value that was agreed to
> years ago when they bought the plant. We see our job as getting a
> power contract that provides value beyond what is already in place.
> Todays offer does not add meaningful value to what we already have."
> Vermont Yankee officials say the proposal has good value for
> Vermonters and the utilities.
>
> "This 20-year contract has - built into it - the same stability, price
> predictability and lack of volatility ... and we think would be an
> excellent product," said Jay Thayer, vice president of operations for
> Vermont Yankee.
>
> The offer comes after more than a year of unsuccessful negotiations
> between Vermont Yankee's owners and the two utilities, which have
> produced no new power purchase deal.
>
> Thayer said the decommissioning fund issue is a separate matter.
>
> Vermont Public Interest Research Group, a frequent critic of Vermont
> Yankee that has called for its closure in 2012, also denounced the
> proposal Friday.
>
> "Its easy to see why even the biggest supporters of the troubled
> nuclear plant have rejected this deal," said executive director Paul
> Burns.
> "Louisiana-based Entergy is proposing to sell Vermonters about half
> the power it currently provides at a cost that is at least 45 percent
> higher.
> The only people who might think thats a good deal have already lost
> their fortunes attempting to buy the Brooklyn Bridge."
>
>