In re Proposed Sale of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station

Summary

The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed the Public Service Board's approval of the sale of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station to Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee and the issuance of certificates of public good under 30 V.S.A. § 231. The court held that the proposed sale and operation of the existing facility did not trigger review under 30 V.S.A. § 248 because the transaction involved no site preparation or construction of new facilities. The court also held that the purchaser was required to obtain a certificate under § 231 and rejected an unpreserved argument concerning § 102.

Holdings

1. The transaction did not require a certificate of public good under § 248 because the statute's relevant triggering conditions concern site preparation for or construction of an electric transmission or generation facility, and the purchase-and-sale agreement did not call for construction.
2. The court would not decide a speculative claim unsupported by the Board's findings, and the possibility of a future change did not establish that § 248 review was required for the present transaction.
3. Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, L.L.C. was required to obtain, and was properly granted, a certificate of public good under § 231 because it sought to own a business within the Public Service Board's jurisdiction.
4. The issue was waived because New England Coalition did not raise it or fairly present it to the Public Service Board.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the proposed purchase and operation of an existing electric generation facility required certificates of public good under 30 V.S.A. § 248.
2. Whether Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, L.L.C. was eligible for and properly granted a certificate of public good under 30 V.S.A. § 231.
3. Whether the argument that Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, L.L.C. should have sought a certificate under 30 V.S.A. § 102 was preserved for appellate review.

Disposition

affirmed