Legislation that would have given Massachusetts discretion over $25 million in annual funding for the decommissioning of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station failed during this legislative session, and the state instead will form an advisory panel to direct decommissioning activities.
Plant operator Entergy, citing economic factors, announced in October 2015 that it would shut Pilgrim down no later than June 2019 and possibly as early as spring 2017. The company said in March it would work within the political process to defeat two bills on Pilgrim introduced by state Sen. Daniel Wolf (D). The legislative session concluded Sunday.
The first bill (S. 1798) would have established an escrow account of $25 million per year to supplement existing funds to make “sure the plant is decommissioned as quickly and completely as possible.” Entergy’s Pilgrim decommissioning trust fund has accumulated about $900 million, according to the company, which has tagged the decommissioning cost at $1.4 billion or more.
The second bill (S. 1797) would have charged Entergy an annual fee of $10,000 for every spent fuel rod assemblies held in wet storage, therefore incentivizing the company to transfer fuel into dry storage, which Wolf and other officials consider a safer storage option. That money, which would total more than $30 million based on the estimated 3,000 fuel rods in wet storage, would be split between more than 30 Massachusetts towns and cities.
The second bill never received full consideration because Attorney General Maura Healey advised against it, citing the potential to pre-empt the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority to oversee safety matters at nuclear plants. The escrow account bill, meanwhile, did not survive the conference committee level, with opposition coming from House representatives.
Language included in an amendment to the state Senate energy bill, which the legislature approved and is awaiting the signature of Gov. Charlie Baker (R), will establish a nuclear decommissioning citizens advisory panel. Authors of the bill modeled the advisory panel after one in Vermont, where citizens serve on a board directing decommissioning plans at Entergy’s Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. The Massachusetts panel will have 21 members, including state and local officials; House- and Senate-appointed representatives; and Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station representatives.
Wolf in a telephone interview Friday expressed disappointment with how the legislative session unfolded, saying the composition of the advisory panel is not as strong for residents as originally drawn up. Wolf’s camp had requested seats for Healey and a representative from the Cape Cod Commission. The panel ultimately approved in the bill, he said, is much more favorable to Entergy.
“I find it frustrating that we capitulate to the interests of what this company wants, not the interest of what the public needs to protect it both financially and to protect it from a public safety standpoint,” Wolf said. “It’s been an extremely frustrating process.”
Wolf and others have failed to pass a variety of Pilgrim-related bills over the past six years, all of which the lawmaker said “were about public safety and about protecting the financial interest of the commonwealth.” Wolf, who is leaving office when his term ends in January, said he was frustrated but that plant’s closure is an accomplishment in and of itself.
Entergy Vice President of External Affairs Mike Twomey wrote in an email Wednesday that the company is “pleased that the Legislature did not include Senator Wolf’s provision in the final energy bill. We are currently reviewing the final language on the proposed Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel. Entergy expects to be actively involved with the Panel and to provide routine and transparent status reports on decommissioning.”
