An investment firm is predicting that the owners of Vermont’s only nuclear power plant will close that facility.
A UBS Securities analysis of the cash flow of Entergy Nuclear properties says both Fitzpatrick in New York and Vermont Yankee “...are at risk of retirement...” due to modest or negative cash flows at the plants thru 2016.
The problem is that profitability in energy resources has shifted. Ethan Allen Institute Energy Education Project Director Meredith Angwin worked in the utility industry for over twenty years. She doesn’t believe Entergy will close Vermont Yankee.
Vermont Law School Professor Cheryl Hanna says Entergy’s priority is its shareholders.
If Entergy is considering closing the plant, why is it pursuing lawsuits to keep it open? That’s a question that New England Coalition Technical Advisor Ray Shadis is puzzling over.
Entergy/Vermont Yankee e-mailed that as a matter of policy they do not comment on the financial performance of their individual plants. Spokesman Jim Sinclair notes that the company believes nuclear plants will remain a vital part of America’s power generation and that “...power markets will recover over the long term to support merchant nuclear generation. In the meantime, we'll continue operating our plants as efficiently as possible...”
