UPDATE: (excerpt from press release)

Statement by Senate President Peter Shumlin Regarding the Senate’s Vote

to (close) Vermont Yankee as Scheduled

Montpelier, Vt – “The Vermont Senate, today voted by an

overwhelming bipartisan majority to close the aging Vermont Yankee

nuclear power plant as scheduled in 2012. The 26 to 4 vote sent Entergy

Louisiana a clear message: enough is enough.

Vermonters deserve better than an aging, unreliable nuclear power plant

owned by an untrustworthy out of state corporation.  The Senate took the

courageous step to close the unreliable plant on schedule and voted

instead to stake out a bold new energy future that will create thousands

of good-paying jobs in the fields of renewable energy and energy

efficiency.”

-k9k

UPDATE: Bill to extend VY license defeated, 26-4.

UPDATE:

Sen. Brock, R. Franklin, admits he’s been trying to slow the process down, but will vote no on the bill. Wishes he knew more. Not happy with prevarications by Vermont Yankee.

Sen. Bartlett, D. Lamoille. “To vote no today is a no-brainer.”

Roll call on passage.

Ashe: NO

Ayer: NO

Bartlett: NO

Brock: NO

Campbell: NO

Carris: NO

Choate: NO

Cummings: NO

Doyle: NO

Flanagan: NO

Flory: YES

Giard: NO

Hartwell: NO

Illuzzi: NO

Kitchel: NO

Kittell: NO

Lyons: NO

MacDonald: NO

Mazza: YES

McCormack: NO

Miller: NO

Mullin: NO

Nitka: NO

Racine: NO

Scott: YES

Sears: NO

Shumlin: NO

Snelling: NO

Starr: YES

White: NO

Bill defeated, 26-4.

More below the jump to save front page real estate.

UPDATE: Another proposed amendment from Flory, R. Rutland. Key idea: Let’s put up a new nuke! After all, when they set up Yankee they permitted the site for two plants.

Sen. White: There is no evidence that the site was ever approved for two plants.

Roll call: Brock, Carris, Flory, Mullin, Scott, Starr vote Yes, all others vote No. Amendment defeated 24-6.

UPDATE: reconvening after lunch recess.

Senator Mullins from Rutland is proposing an amendment, which is being passed out now.

Drafted with Brock, Flory, and Scott to be a “better framework” for the decision.

Starts out with discussion of new findings.

Creates two new sections that seem to be designed to create a fig leaf for support of the plant.

Roll call:

Yes votes from Brock, Flory, Mullins, Scott, Starr.

25 No votes. Amendment is defeated.

Debate starts with a point of parliamentary inquiry by Phil Scott, R. Wash., asking Peter Shumlin how they could consider the bill when it was introduced in contravention of the rules. This apparently relates to missing crossover.

Shumlin: it’s a committee bill, they never reject a request to bring up a committee bill after crossover, and the Rules Committee was polled and agreed unanimously.

Apparently dissatisfied with Shumlin’s response, Scott now interrogates one of the members of the Senate Rules Committee. Kevin Mullin responds, saying that he had his thumb down, but said that he eventually said “If you want to have this fight on the floor we’ll have it on the floor.”

At request of John Campbell they go into a brief recess.

Recess ends: Scott stands by his comment. Doesn’t “withdraw” anything because he didn’t make a point of order. “I’d like us to move forward. I think it’s important to have this discussion today.”

Shumlin: I thought we had unanimous support to allow the bill.

Chair recognizes Ann Cummings, D. Wash. Senate Finance Committee has followed strict procedure and followed a deliberative process. Twelve-page handout on their process.

S. 289 mirrors the language of Act 160, reciting requirement of finding that continued operation of VY is in the public interest. Bill voted out without recommendation, which is very rare.

Begins recitation of VY history, going back to 1972 opening of Vermont Yankee.

Complicated corporate structure, involving several LLC’s that insulate the parent company from potential liability.

Repeated legislative attempts to ensure safety, reliability, and decommissioning. Entergy has refused all attempts to provide security for decommissioning costs. “We have not gotten a clear answer.” “They come with a very limited focus as to what they can talk about.”

Cummings concludes. Up next, Ginny Lyons, D. Chitt., from Senate Natural Resources. Committee has heard from many re: performance reliability and have information relating to planning for and access to electricity.

Lost audio. Hopefully it will return.

Audio is back. Shumlin up to respond to process questions.

Open process. No surprise that they’re voting today. Quotes news reports going back months of him saying they’re going to move forward and vote.

Ten days ago the chair of Finance came to him and said there is nobody left to hear from, and it’s time to vote. Natural Resources said the same thing. “We cannot take additional testimony, we’ve been taking it for four years, it’s time to vote.”

Up until a few days ago that’s also what Douglas, Entergy, and the Public Service Department wanted. Quotes Douglas from January 30: “Peter Shumlin ought to have a vote.”

Praises the work of Arnie Gundersen. His character was maligned publicly because he has been an ardent watchdog of the industry, who also happens to know more about the industry than anyone I know, and he’s been right every time. Praises Arnie Gundersen’s courage and knowledge.

The fact that future Legislatures can undo this vote doesn’t mean it’s a meaningless vote today. That’s just the way every bill and every new Legislature works.

I’m urging you to allow VY to close on schedule.

Five facts:

1. Price offered by Enexus in December. 50% price increase, plus inflation kicker, for 11% of Vermont’s electric needs, not the current 33%. Price offer is from Enexus, not Entergy. If PSB didn’t approve transfer to Enexus they would shut the plant down. Entergy-Louisiana is getting out of nuke business.

GMP and CVPS have not made a deal because they’ve concluded the price is no good.

2. Cleanup. Recommissioning fund is $600 million short. Douglas has vetoed two bills to require guarantee of recommissioning funds. This is even before the tritium leaks. A similar plant had its costs double after tritium leak.

3. The spinoff. We’re in recession because of Wall Street schemes that cost people on Main Street billions. Those schemes are nothing compared to Enexus scheme. Pocketing $3.5 billion of borrowed money, $4.7 billion of low quality debt.

4. Reliability. No further explication necessary.

5. Trust. I know they had a press conference this morning and their lawyers concluded they had not misled our regulators or legislators in describing the pipes that “didn’t exist”. I learned when I was in business when I was 23 years old, don’t do business with someone you can’t trust.

What’s worse: a company you can’t trust or a company that doesn’t know it has pipes with radioactive waste on the shores of the Connecticut River.

Phil Scott: Point of order. What is the basis of our vote supposed to be?

Recess.

Back in session. Vermont Constitution, Art. 14, provides that legislators have immunity for words spoken in debate. Therefore, “It’s our responsibility to talk about these things, irregardless of the fact that the PSB and the NRC are responsible for safety.”

Campbell requests recess to investigate basis of jurisdiction under Act 160.

Senate in recess.

Back in session. Not sure how much I missed. Ann  Cummings is being interrogated about economic impact.

Scott moves to commit the bill to Economic Development committee. Supported by Bobby Starr, D. Essex-Orleans. Supported by Randy Brock, R. Franklin, with a litany of business groups to bring in. “I could keep reading for another twenty minutes.”

Senator from Rutland (can’t tell if it’s Mullins or Carris, but I think it’s Mullins) talking about financial impact. Cummings: Maine study by Ray Shadis found that the plant in Maine didn’t have as large local purchases as some other plants.

John Campbell interrogating Ann Cummings on study of economic impacts. Supports motion to commit bill to Senate General.

Mark McDonald, D. Orange: The utilities already have a contract to buy power in 2012 for the same price that VY is offering now, today. It’s going to be 6.1 cents with or without VY. The next question is whether it will be deliverable. VELCO says that reliable power is available even if VY and McNeil in Burlington shut down. Why would we keep Yankee open if we can get the power we need at the same price without them? I would recommend that we say no, we don’t need the power from VY. If anyone wants to offer a better price in the future, let them do that. No financial reason to continue to take power from this plant.

Jeannette White, D. Windham, to Ann Cummings: did the business interests ask to come testify to Finance, and were they turned down?

Answer: No. They didn’t request and we didn’t turn anyone down.

White: They would have been heard if they had asked.

Shumlin: “If I had a crumb of bread for every time I’ve had a chair come in and beg me not to send a bill to the Committee on Economic Development, whose chair has a prodigious appetite for bills, I could make us all sandwiches.”

Roll call on motion to refer:

Ashe: No

Ayer: No

Bartlett No

Brock Yes

Carris No

Choate No

Doyle No

Flanagan No

Flory Yes

Giard No

Hartwell No

Illuzzi No

Kitchel No

Kittell No

Lyons No

MacDonald No

Mazza Yes

McCormack No

Racine No

Scott Yes

Sears No

Shumlin No

Snelling No

Starr Yes

White No

I know I missed a few, but there were only six Yes votes.

30-minute lunch break.