Woot! Vermont's two largest utilities say they are unlikely to buy power from VT Yankee

[cali]

if it stays open. This is really good news for those of us who want to see VT Yankee shut down next year as the state has already mandated despite NRC relicensing.

Vermont Yankee may have lost its last best hope to win approval to stay open.

The state's two largest utilities say they are unlikely to buy power from Yankee, giving little incentive for lawmakers to reverse their opposition to the plant.

Yankee has had numerous problems in recent years leading lawmakers to vote against a new 20-year license.

A power contract with the utilities to deliver cheap electricity to Vermonters was seen by industry observers as Yankee's best chance of winning support. We learned this week that the company is offering a favorable price of 4.9 cents a kilowatt hour. But the state's two biggest utilities-- Central Vermont Public Service and Green Mountain Power-- have refused to deal with a company that does not have legislative support.

"It wouldn't do you any good to approve the contract no matter how good the price was, if you can't get it approved then it does our customers no good," said Bob Young of CVPS. "Whether you have Vermont Yankee or you don't have Vermont Yankee over the next couple of years you could find power that would be roughly equivalent to it in the marketplace, so in that sense I don't think our customers would see any rate shock."

<snip>

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=14367770

[Bluerthanblue]

1. great news. K&R

:thumbsup:

[Auntie Bush]

2. That's reassuring news. nt

[phantom power]

3. "the state's utilities are planning to get their power elsewhere"

One wonders where, and what, "elsewhere" is going to be.