Timidity Under Pressure

So the House Commerce Committee has voted, 7-4, to send H 373 to the floor for a vote.  This is the bill that would require Entergy to escrow some $450 million to decommission the Vermont Yankee plant.  The bill is a straight-up attempt to shut down Yankee or to force a veto which the governor will be obliged to defend when he campaigns for reelection.  The legislation poaches on the integrity of the Public Service Board and, hence, sends a message that orderly regulatory process isn't safe when the legislature is on the prowl.

Committee chairman, Warren Kitzmiller, pretty much summed it up at the conclusion of the hearings when he explained the vote this way:

"I very much like my job and I know that my leadership will be disappointed if we amend the bill."

Kitzmiller's job may be safe.  The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for thousands of ordinary Vermonters (think IBM and beyond) whose jobs depend, in part, on low-cost and reliable power and who will likely be out of work in the event Yankee closes down.

Comments

[Green Mtn Punter]

At long last Vermont business speaks out! I am referring to the full page infomercial in Friday's Rutland Herald entitled "194,821 Working Vermonters Couldn't Have Said It Better... A Way To Raise Costs, Lose Jobs", sponsored by sixteen Vermont trade, industry, and regional economic development organizations, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce a notable absentee.

The 194,821 number refers to the number of Vermonters employed by the sixteen organizations, a substantial voting bloc with enormous potential for Republican votes in '08 and beyond. The advert points out the disastrous potential of H 373 with regard to a reliable supply of affordable electricity in Vermont.

It is about time that business started to flex it's muscles in Vermont, I sometimes wonder where "business" has been hiding when it comes to claiming a major voice in legislative affairs, don't you? I would dare say that business and industry counts for less in Vermont than in any other state in the USA. That must change quickly if there is any hope of turning this ship of state around. The Rutland Herald advert is a good start.