Save the Date: November 7 for Crucial Meeting on Vermont Yankee

Certificate of Public Good

Vermont Yankee has its renewed license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but still needs a Certificate of Public Good from the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB).  Before deciding on the certificate, the PSB will hold only one public meeting.  This hearing will be on Wednesday November 7, at 7 p.m, at Vernon Elementary School, across the street from the plant entrance.

The meeting is designed for the public to ask questions, and express concerns about the proposed new Certificate of Public Good for Vermont Yankee.   The Certificate will allow the plant to operate for the full twenty years of its NRC license. This is a very important meeting, and the last chance for the public to address the PSB.  The formal hearing process will finish next August, with a PSB decision to follow.  The schedule is posted in this Pre-Hearing Memo by the Public Service Board.

Note: There will also be a Vermont Interactive Technologies hearing on November 19. You can attend this hearing at many places throughout Vermont. At this point, however, I would urge people to show up in person on November 7 if you possibly can do so.

The Meeting at the School Across from the Plant

It is very important that supporters of Vermont Yankee attend this meeting. This and the interactive hearing are the only ones scheduled before the Public Service Board decides. The meeting is near the plant, and many opponents turn out for meetings near the plant.

We need to show the Public Service Board that there are supporters as well as opponents. Also, when the opponents are present as a large majority, some of them tend to be rude. In my opinion, when they are part of the majority, these opponents tend to be much more rude than they would dare to be in a more balanced audience.  Their rudeness is calculated to add to the impression that everyone hates the plant.

Mark your calendars.  Support nuclear power.  Support the economic viability of Vermont!  This is a crucial meeting.

Some background

At this point, the contents of Docket #7862 are not yet on the Public Service website, a situation I blogged about in Docket 7862, Where Are You?  The Public Service Board opened this new docket because its previous Vermont Yankee dockets (7440 and 7600) could not be scrubbed of nuclear safety material. The federal government, not the state, regulates nuclear safety.

Because the new docket is not yet posted at the Public Service Board site, I have posted the material I have about the docket on the Energy Education Project site. You can find many relevant briefs and testimony at Public Service Board Docket 7862 filings.

I hope to see you on November 7!