Emerson Lynn On Politics

Political shell game in full
swing with VY

The games continue with Vermont Yankee and the state’s prospect for reasonable energy costs.

This week House Speaker Shap Smith and Senate President Peter Shumlin made it clear that they want to see the details of a completed contract between Vermont Yankee and the state’s utilities before the Legislature will agree to a relicensing vote in the upcoming session.

Initially, the prompt might actually be useful. The Legislature is not part of the ongoing negotiations between the state’s utilities and Entergy, but it’s obvious that legislators will be loathe to vote on any relicensing agreement if they cannot also explain the value of the deal to their constituents. (And value is something understood in dollars and cents.)

It was hoped that we would be beyond this a year ago. All parties understood then the importance of the impending license renewal process and it would have been to the advantage of all concerned had the contract and the license extension been dealt with last session.

That didn’t happen for a variety of reasons, among them the Legislature’s unwillingness to add that controversial issue to an already jammed agenda, and Entergy’s foot-dragging.  So here we are with one of the state’s most pressing deadlines becoming part of our immediate concern. Vermont Yankee constitutes more than a third of our power, and at 4.2 cents per kilowatt hour it is one key reason Vermonters’ power rates are the lowest in New England. If negotiations fall apart, or if the Legislature denies Vermont Yankee’s request to extend its license, then it’s a given that our rates will jump considerably.

Regardless of the circumstances, it’s assured that the issue will be central to what transpires this legislative session, and whatever happens will be key to the state’s economic development prospects.

The governor has responded to Mr. Shumlin’s and Mr. Smith’s request by suggesting that they should just call for a vote on Vermont Yankee and then vote to oppose the relicensing if they are so repulsed by the thought of the plant’s continued operation.  Mr. Shumlin has responded saying that he has not indicated his feelings about Vermont Yankee one way or the other.

Right.

And Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz don’t do drugs.

Few argue the need for the contract to be negotiated before the Legislature votes on any licensing proposal. But Mr. Shumlin and Mr. Smith need to be honest about what will happen when the contracts are negotiated and when the details are made public.

What we know now is that Vermont Yankee’s contracted price is 4.2 cents per kilowatt hour. We also know that if our utilities were forced to buy their long-term power needs in today’s market, that they would be forced to pay anywhere from seven to as much as 10 cents per kilowatt hour. If, for the sake of argument, our utilities were able to reach an agreement with Vermont Yankee for, say five cents, that would be a 20 percent increase over the existing price (and a good deal.)

That makes for easy demagoguery.

We can just hear critics’ screams about an out-of-state corporation plundering Vermonters’ pocketbooks with a 20 percent increase in prices.

Perhaps Mr. Shumlin, et al, should just tell us now what an acceptable price is and spare us the grandstanding later. We know, in advance, that the price we will pay for power from Vermont Yankee will exceed what we pay now.  When the contract with Hydro-Quebec is renegotiated, the same outcome should be expected. Both contracts – which represent two-thirds of Vermont’s power supply – are old and do not reflect today’s market.

We don’t pretend to know what that fair price should be. That’s the purview of the utilities, the Public Service Department, and Entergy.

But we know a political shell game when we see it.

What we can expect is more of the same. Mr. Shumlin can be expected to push the same political buttons he’s been pushing for the last several years and if anyone expects him to be pushed over into Vermont Yankee’s corner because of the sweetness of the deal struck with the state’s utilities, then they rush to the corner store and buy the winning lottery ticket that’s been set aside.

No deal will ever be good enough. 

(Emerson Lynn is editor & publisher of the St. Albans Messenger where this essay first appeared.)

 

Comments

[Chris Campion]

The legislative leadership could have gotten something along the lines outlined by Mr. Lynn done in the last session, but even as their docket filled (and we were told that they had time for everything on their agenda), this seemed to get pushed off until the next session. I'm not sure why working in partnership with the utilities that provide lower than market rates for energy is such a disdainful act, but the actions of the legislative leadership speak louder than words. They're simply not interested in arriving at an agreement with VT Yankee, and are more interested in political advantage than actually bettering the lives of Vermonters. We didn't elect them to secure political position; we elected them to serve us.

If the leadership cannot grasp that simple concept, then they shouldn't be re-elected. If VT is forced to purchase one third of its power from other sources, an already dismal VT economy will get worse as power prices go up. Increasing costs in a recession, when you didn't have to, can hardly be described as rational public policy.

[Ed G. Mann]

Now if Entergy just would promise them each a pony...

[Paul]

In the past it's been, "Close the plant it's dangerous." Now it seems that we can accept the danger if the plant is willing to pay enough.

[David Usher]

Jump ahead to the time when the price is known and contracts have been signed. The price will not be low enough or the duration of the contracts are too short, or ...whatever terms and conditions the Legislature does not like... grandstanding will certainly be on display.

The bind they would find themselves in, should they vote not to renew the VY license is a likely and costly lawsuit, assuming Governor Douglas chooses to veto their license denial and they override.

Their political bind will be seen as blocking best prices, fostering continued economic decay and furthering the state's reputation as unfriendly to business.

But they'll think they're green!

[Ed G. Mann]

That green will be around the gills when they see the remaining corporate tax base di di mau down the road.

They better hope they can sell a hell of a lot of omelets and candles to the pass through motorists (Weird how that works out; motors use electricity, engines use petro/distillate fuel.) in the solar cars.