A second round of state depositions has been scheduled for January on the proposed sale of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.
Depositions were previously held in October as the Vermont Public Utility Commission considers whether to authorize transfer of ownership of Vermont Yankee from power company Entergy to nuclear decommissioning specialist NorthStar Group Services. The New York City-based company would then take responsibility for decommissioning, spent fuel management, and site restoration for the power plant, which closed in December 2014.
The depositions are scheduled from Jan. 8 to Jan. 18 in New York City, Boston, and the Vermont capital of Montpelier, according to notices filed on Friday. Those scheduled to answer questions are: Scott State, CEO of NorthStar Group Services; NorthStar Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Adix; Joseph Lynch, Entergy senior government affairs manager for decommissioning; Brian Winn, director of finance and economics at the Vermont Public Service Department; and several expert witnesses representing the Public Service Department.
The same executives, officials, and experts participated in the first round of depositions.
In the Public Utility Commission review of the sale, the Public Service Department is a statutory party automatically authorized to intervene to represent the public interest. Its attorneys will question executives from Entergy and NorthStar, while the companies’ attorneys will question the Public Service Department’s experts.
The PUC discovery process for the Vermont Yankee deal envisioned two rounds of depositions, which allow the parties to clarify details about the sale ahead of technical hearings due later in January before the commission itself. Those sessions, scheduled for the weeks of Jan. 22 and 29, will allow commission members and their experts to question parties and intervenors in the sale.
Entergy and NorthStar hope to secure approval for the deal from the Public Utility Commission in 2018, along with authorization from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for transfer of the Vermont Yankee license.
