All posts by ed

ENVY Push Poll

( – promoted by odum)

Reports are circulating of a new propaganda poll by Entergy Nuclear.

They may be concerned after the St Johnsbury energy meeting showed that even up north, most people want ENVY shut down by 2012 when its license expires.

One person wrote

“A couple of days ago I was called by a public opinion pollster. After a few innocuous questions, the pollster must have asked at least 30 questions designed to elicit my support for nuclear power in general and the renewal of Entergy's license in particular. The questions all stated false, partial or misleading “facts”, then asked whether this informations would make me more likely or less likely to support Entergy's license. Of course, if the so called facts were true, I would be lobbying the legislature for a nuclear power plant in every section of the state, for a 100 year license, at least, and certainly give it to Entergy.”

More at http://www.minor-her….

Update 10/12/7: more detail at http://vermontdailyb…

ENVY Scrams

ENVY had an unexpected, automatic shutdown today.

“Plant officials said the shutdown occurred at 3:12 p.m. EDTduring routine testing of steam valves. Plant technicians are trying to determine the cause of the automatic shutdown.”


I believe this is known in the industry as a “scram”.



AMAZING ENVY photos

(Astonishing amount of damage, given that – as VTArnie states in Julie’s original post about the incident, that “An NRC spokesman described the problems like so: ‘I don’t know if I’d characterize it as rotting, but more sagging, deformation in some of the wood.’…. wow…. what rose colored glasses the NRC wears!” – promoted by odum)

Photos (unauthenticated) of the ENVY cooling tower failure event.(Photos courtesy of the New England Coalition.)

To judge the size, note the pipe spewing water in photo 1 is 52'' in diameter.

This is called “deferred maintenance” in the nuclear industry.

Major Major

( – promoted by odum)

The Deerfield Valley News has published the second in a series of articles on the planned “western Reception Center”, part of the Entergy Nuclear evacuation plan. 

Choice quote from the article:
         “If there is an actual radioactive release, the Wilmington reception station wouldn’t be used, according to the VEM plan.”

Shorter VEM plan: It will only be used if it's not needed.

After 9/11, when one of the hijacked planes flew down the Hudson past Entergy's Indian Point reactors, Selectboards in the Emergency Zone began asking for an additional center so people west of VY wouldn't be expected to evacuate toward the reactor.

Two years after the legislature first funded it (for $87k), VT Emergency Mgmt. still hasn't gotten it going.

This article by Mike Eldred covers a meeting where VEM finally gets around to asking the school board for permission to use the high school, and finds out it's not so simple…

just a little hot

( – promoted by odum)

Another meeting held where people in the ten-mile Entergy Nuclear evacuation zone educate VEM staff (VT's own FEMA).
Evacuation? Traffic jams? Parents and kids separated? 

        “It's no different than being at a major sporting event,” 

        Angil told the group.

And he's the man in charge. Relieved?

Full story:

      Deaf students left out of evac plan

Vernon hydro

Remember when Big Jim's “philosophical” opposition to the state buying the Connecticut River power dams let them go to a Canadian owner?

The new owner is upgrading the Vernon dam's electricity production by 33%.


Dam to boost power by a third

June 13, 2007

VERNON — The 98-year-old Vernon hydroelectric facility on the Connecticut River is getting a major overhaul, including a 33 percent boost in power production.


The dam will celebrate its 100 years of operation in 2009, and Bruce Wick, project manager for the $46 million project, said some of the turbines being replaced date back to 1909. The project will boost power from 24 megawatts to

32 megawatts.


…TransCanada bought (the  dams) two years ago from the bankrupt USGen New England Inc. for $505 million. The network has a capacity of 567 megawatts of renewable energy.

Big Jim vs H. 520: Compare & Contrast

( – promoted by odum)

 The Safe Power Vermont Campaign has a fact sheet out comparing the energy bill passed by the legislature with Douglas's PR treatment of energy & the environment. (see extended comments.)

And Peter Shumlin has an op-ed in the Rutland Herald today that's good, too.

http://rutlandherald…

 

Analysis of H.520

 

The Bill itself has many parts, but accomplishes 3 main goals:

1. Invests in renewable energy by requiring Vermont utilities to supply 20% of our power from clean local sources by 2012;
2. Makes it easier for businesses and individuals to invest in small renewable energy projects;
3. Improves efficiency by tightening building codes and expanding the mandate and funding of Efficiency Vermont so they can help us use less heating oil as well as electricity.

 

All this is paid for by making Vermont Yankee pay the same property tax rate as wind farms.

You can read a section by section overview of the bill at www.vpirg.org/override.php  

Tax Fairness:

You may have heard that the tax on Yankee is unfair, spurious or otherwise biased. This is not so, here’s why.

1. Yankee’s current rate is a sweetheart deal: Yankee currently pays a property tax rate of .001 cents per kWh. They are the only energy generator in the state to pay a rate this low. Because of this sweetheart tax rate Vermont Yankee’s tax-bill has actually gone DOWN since 2001, despite their having made over $100 million in improvements to the plant since then.  The .001 cent tax rate was cooked up in the Vermont House in 2003. No public hearings were held on the tax rate at that time, and no hearings at all were held in the Senate. The bill passed without public knowledge or understanding (many legislators did not know the rate had been changed) and was signed into law by Governor Douglas without comment or ceremony.

2. Entergy is not paying their fair share for our kids’ education: Because Entergy pays this sweetheart rate, Vermont home owners must pay higher property taxes in order to fully fund the education of our kids.

3. The new tax rate is fair. It’s the exact same rate wind farms will pay (.003cents/kWh), and the wind industry is excited to get this tax rate. The tax commissioner and others are researching the property taxes paid by other energy generators in Vermont, but it is believed no other company pays a rate as low as Entergy.

4. The new rate was discovered by citizen legislators trying to do the right thing. When our citizen legislators, were deciding how to fund the energy bill, they considered several options: a heating fuels tax, a windfall profits tax, and other mechanisms. But it was not until one legislator took a detailed look at the more than 1,000 pages of Vermont Tax code that most legislators realized Entergy was not paying its fair share (see 1a). Once they did, they acted in good faith to level the playing field and have Entergy ramp up over several years to paying the same fair rate as wind farms (.003cents/kWh).

 

 

Key Differences between Legislature’s H. 520 and Governor’s proposed alternative related to helping Vermonters reduce their heating costs.

 


 

H.520:

Accountability:

Creates strict Public Service Board oversight and requires demonstrated financial savings for Vermonters and pollution reduction ($ is linked to performance).

 

Adequate Funding:

Provides $4-6 million per year from the general fund.  This money comes from requiring Vermont Yankee to pay the same tax rate as a wind farm would and using anticipated revenue from Efficiency Vermont.

 

Implementation of the Building Efficiency Program:

Relies on an existing, award winning, efficiency program (Efficiency Vermont) that has a proven track record of working with residential customers at all income levels as well as small and large businesses alike.

 

Supporting Existing Low Income Weatherization:

Strengthens existing program through long-term planning, increased accountability and additional financial resources.

 

Helping Low Income Vermonters (not covered by existing program):

Will offer additional grants and zero interest loans based on the need.

 

 

Helping other Vermonters:

Will offer additional grants and low or zero interest loans based on the need.

 

Helping Vermont Businesses:

Will offer additional grants and low or zero interest loans based on the needs of the individual business.

 

Creating New Jobs:

Will support the creation of new private sector jobs in contracting, architecture, plumbing, heating services, electrical and other industries.

 

 

 

 

 

Governor’s Proposal:

Accountability:

Proposes limited oversight within the Governor’s Agency of Human Services and does not require actual savings ($ is not linked to performance).

 

 

Adequate Funding:

The Governor has said that his program will require between $800,000-900,000 per year but he has not identified any funding source for that money.

 

 

Implementation of the Building Efficiency Program:

Relies on Vermont’s terrific weatherization program that has a proven track record of very effectively providing services to Vermont’s low income community.

 

 

Supporting Existing Low Income Weatherization:

Asks existing program to provide more services with inadequate funding. [The Governor’s administration has supported cutting the existing program’s budget.]

 

Helping Low Income Vermonters (not covered by existing program):

Offers no grants and only loans to Vermonters who can likely not afford any significant increased debt burden.

 

Helping other Vermonters:

Offers nothing better than what existing programs already offer.

 

Helping Vermont Businesses:

Offers nothing better than what existing programs already offer.

 

Creating New Jobs:

4-5 additional jobs (based on the Governor’s proposal to split an estimated $250,000 between 5 existing weatherization agencies for administering a program designed to fail).

 

 


 

Benefits to Vermont property owners and Businesses

 

1. H. 520 provides grants to businesses that invest in energy efficiency as part of new affordable housing construction or renovations to existing affordable housing.

 

2. H. 520 provides grants and zero-low interest loans on a sliding scale based on need to home owners and businesses for energy efficiency investments.

 

3. H. 520 creates new programs will be targeted to help more multi-family and rental properties achieve a higher level of energy efficiency.

 

 

The Legislature Must Act

 

The governor says he wants to implement H.520 administratively. But he can’t. Of the 46 sections in the bill, 30 of them deal with changes to existing laws or tax code. Only the legislature can make these changes: the governor proposed to implement a handful of do-nothing provisions and turn the rest of the bill into a giant study, postponing action indefinitely.  

Ag Committe Wants Retreat Farm Saved

Brattleboro’s Agriculture Advisory Committee continues its efforts  to get the Windham Foundation to live up to their word, to work with all concerned to have a sustainable, viable working farm at the Retreat Farm.

Reports today cited Windham Foundation plans to sell off the dairy equipment and lease the agricultural lands to an outside operator. This would make reopening the recently closed dairy operation financially impossible.

In the wake of reports that the Windham Foundation is planning to lease the cropland at the Retreat Farm to an outside grower, Jay Bailey, Chair of The Brattleboro Agriculture Advisory Committee, released the following statement, which has been emailed to Stephen Morse of the Windham Foundation.

“Several investors have come forward in the last few days with a bonafide proposal to restart a dairy operation at the Retreat Farm.

“These investors have presented their business plan for the Retreat Farm to the bank, and secured funding. They are ready to enter the Farmer Search Process already worked out between Windham Foundation and the Vermont Land Trust as the best way to ensure long term viability of a successor operation at the Retreat Farm.

“The Brattleboro Agriculture Advisory Committee expects the Windham Foundation to live up to what they’ve agreed to all along: That the process of finding a farmer for a long term sustainable farm operation farm go forward through the Vermont Land Trust.

“Local farmers have been identified who will farm the land this season, as the new proposal proceeds.

“What the Ag Committee wants from the Windham Foundation is:

“Renewed commitment to the Farmer Search process with the Vermont Land Trust.

“A good faith commitment to this process precludes selling the assets of the dairy operation or signing way rights to the ag land except as part of the Vermont Land Trust Farmer Search Process.

“We reiterate the invitation from the Ag Committee to the Windham Foundation to participate in the Public Meeting about the Retreat Farm on National Agriculture Day, March 21, in the Brattleboro Selectboard Meeting Room at 7 PM.

Jay Bailey, Chair
The Brattleboro Agriculture Advisory Committee”

Bailey said, “We’re just trying to get the Windham Foundation to live up to their word, to work with all concerned to have a sustainable, viable working farm at the Retreat Farm.”

See also Susan Smallheer: rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070316/NEWS02/703160353/1003/NEWS02

Bob Audette: reformer.com/ci_5449511

“The Vermont Department of Health and Vermont Yankee”

Two years ago, Entergy Nuclear’s Vermont Yankee exceeded  state regulations for radiation released offsite at the Vernon reactor, according to measurements by the VT Dept. of Health.

Vermont’s standards are stricter than the federal standards, and Vermont Yankee almost exceeded those, too.

Entergy’s response was, “Who you gonna believe, me or your lying instruments?” Since then, the state and Entergy have been “negotiating” the issue.

Windham Regional Commission is sponsoring an event to give the Health Dept a chance to explain on Thursday, November 16, 7:00 P.M. at the American Legion Hall, Linden St. Brattleboro. It’s billed as “The Vermont Department of Health and Vermont Yankee”.

Evacuation Plan

(GMD has insufficient VT Yankee coverage…thanks to Ed for this – promoted by odum)

PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED ON EVACUATION PLAN

Two committees of the Vermont State Legislature will travel to Brattleboro to take direct testimony from people affected by the State Emergency Plan and the local nuclear emergency response plan.

House and Senate Government Operations Committees will hold a joint hearing at Brattleboro Union High School Gymnasium, Wednesday, April 5, at 6:30 pm. To accommodate the large turnout expected, speakers may be limited to three minutes each.

Judy Davidson, speaking for the local grass-roots activist group Nuclear Free Vermont by 2012, commented, “The rest of the state doesn’t know what it’s like to live next to a nuclear reactor that’s cracking and vibrating. This is a perfect opportunity to educate legislators from other parts of the state about our increased concerns about accidents because of Entergy Nuclear’s plans to increase power by 20% and operate for 20 years longer.”

Nuclear Free Vermont was the sponsor of Town Meeting Day Resolutions in six towns around the reactor that called for increased spending by Entergy Nuclear to improve local evacuation plans. The measure passed in all six towns, and won 84% of the vote in Brattleboro.