photo credit: riekhavoc, flickr
Another false claim by Entergy – the owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear facility in Vermont – is laid to rest. On Monday, the ISO-New England came out with an important determination that Vermont Yankee is not needed for reliability of the electrical grid.
This has been brewing for awhile and is quite significant since Entergy keeps claiming its tired old and polluting plant on the banks of the Connecticut River is needed for reliability. That claim is simply false.
In a filing made with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the ISO New England stated:
“[T]he ISO determined that Vermont Yankee is not needed for reliability for the 2015-2016 Capacity Commitment Period. This determination is based on the expectation that certain transmission upgrades will be in place prior to the 2015-2016 Capacity Commitment Period as well as new resources which have been procured through the Forward Capacity Market.” [see page 8-9 of this filing]
This is a very important determination and is good news for New England’s clean energy future. It shows the transformation of our power grid to cleaner sources and away from older and polluting coal and nuclear plants.
By way of explanation, the ISO New England operates the region’s electricity grid to ensure the lights stay on. It holds auctions to determine which resources will supply capacity to meet power needs in future years. This is the forward capacity auction referred to above.
What this means is that Entergy will not collect capacity payments for Vermont Yankee during 2015 to 2016. That means that ratepayers will not be forced to prop up this tired, old, expensive and polluting nuclear plant, or its untrustworthy owners. Ratepayers will not be paying for Vermont Yankee to be available to operate.
This determination recognizes that grid improvements and new resources will keep the lights on without Vermont Yankee. Another false claim by Entergy is laid to rest. Our region moves one step closer to a cleaner energy future.
Jim
So a question or 3. What generation would replace Vermont Yankee? What is the carbon footprint comparison between Vermont Yankee and the replacement? And lastly, what is the projected cost differential between the 2?
Looking forward to the answers, Jim
Sandy Levine
In place of Vermont Yankee the region would rely on the other available resources including power from Hydro Quebec, renewable resources (wind, solar and biomass), natural gas and increased energy efficiency. To tackle climate change and close Vermont Yankee the region needs to step up efficiency and renewables, so that we do not become overly dependent on natural gas. This will bring the carbon footprint down as the region transitions away from fossil fuels for electricity supply.
Current market conditions suggest increased gas fired generation will be used in the short term with the closing of Vermont Yankee. This will cause a small upward blip in CO2 emissions in the short term.
The age and condition of Vermont Yankee makes retirement inevitable. As with the region’s coal plants, it is all about managing the transition. The presence of old facilities, like Vermont Yankee, that are delaying their retirement in the New England system is distorting the market and muting the signals that would encourage new clean resources to come into the mix.
Power from Vermont Yankee is sold at market prices, which in New England, are largely determined by the price of natural gas. Renewables offer long term price stability, low or no fuel cost, and avoid the health and security impacts of digging uranium from the ground and storing hazardous nuclear waste for generations.