Alternative Energy Siting in Vermont: The Hearing

The Siting Commission

When the drumbeat of opposition to the industrial wind projects grew loud enough in the fall of 2012, Governor Shumlin created the Governor's Energy Generation Siting Policy Commission by executive order on October 2, 2012.   The first sentence of the executive order is that:

Whereas, as set forth in the 2011 Comprehensive Energy Plan and statute, Vermont has recognized the need to increase its energy independence and resilience through the greater use of renewable energy in all sectors; 

As many Vermonters see it, this body is supposed to deflect heat from the Public Service Board, which was siting industrial wind projects and riding roughshod over Vermont town land-use planning in order to do so.  This new Siting Commission is also allowed to ride roughshod over the town plans, but somehow, we are supposed to like it better.  As I noted in a recent post, the Vermont Senate considered a bill requiring stronger environmental review of energy projects, but only passed a gutted bill.

At any rate, the new Commission is holding some public hearings, and I went to one last night.  It was an interactive TV hearing, with people attending from all over Vermont. A large crowd was present in the Lyndonville TV studio. Lyndonville is in the Northeast Kingdom (NEK) of Vermont, where the wind projects are being built, despite much local opposition.

Spillway at Hydro Quebec

Most speakers were against the projects, and they were angry because they realized they are powerless to do anything about the projects. The Siting Commission also doesn't have to pay attention to the town or regional plans.  Other speakers asked why Vermont has to make all its own energy, when after all, it doesn't grow all its own food or make all its own clothes.

Guy Page of VTEP (Vermont Energy Partnership) spoke. He referenced his recent report that Vermont already gets over 50% of its electricity from sources it considers renewable.  Luckily, the Vermont legislature passed a law saying that power from Hydro Quebec is renewable.  That sure helped our renewable percentages around here!

Note: I recommend a blog post today by Howard Shaffer about renewable energy in Vermont. Alternative energy in Vermont – Chickens coming home to roost  at ANS Nuclear Cafe includes an excellent history of energy controversies in Vermont and a root cause analysis of energy opposition.

I also spoke at the Siting Commission meeting, and my statement is below.

Energy Density and Renewables: My Statement

It is relatively easy to think of people who are opposed to renewable energy projects as NIMBYs, and there may be some of that included in their opposition.  However, renewable energy sources have lower energy density than traditional sources (such as fossil fuels and nuclear power). Therefore, renewable projects often require significant use of land.

The book Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air, written by the carbon-advisor to the British Government, looks at the land use requirements for Britain if it attempted to obtain all its energy through renewables.  Similarly, the recent report by the Wilderness Society looks at land-use implications if the Northeast attempts to obtain most of its energy through renewables: Cumulative Landscape Impacts of Renewable Energy Alternatives for Northern New England   

If you look at these books and reports, you will see that there are extensive land-use implications to the use of renewables.  Towns could be trampled by renewable projects if such projects are considered more important than their own land-use planning processes.  I urge you to abide by the planning processes of the towns, and not override them.

A view in the Northeast Kingdom

Vermont Yankee is an Asset to Vermont, and the Sky Is Not Falling: Deb Schulze Guest Post

Deb Schulze

My name is Deb Schulze.  I am a Vermont native and live in North Springfield.

I am speaking tonight in favor of granting Vermont Yankee a Certificate of Public Good.

Vermont Yankee provides safe, clean and reliable electric power.

I have observed with increasing skepticism the tactics of VY’s opponents.  These folks are trying to scare everyone into believing this plant is old and broken down, and that just is not true.

VY is like most any business, it is continually maintained and upgraded and it is also carefully monitored by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Vermont Yankee has saved more than 50 million tons of carbon and other pollutants from being released into the environment.

We now live in a world of big plasma televisions, electric cars and a whole host of electronic gadgets. Our need for electricity is continually increasing.  Closing down Vermont’s largest producer of electricity (two-thirds of the in-state generation) makes absolutely no sense.

Vermont Yankee, along with and its employees and contractors provides more than $100 million per year, into both the local and state economy.  Taxes and payments to the state account for nearly $15 million.

2011, Entergy Vermont Yankee contributed approximately $435 thousand to the community through Entergy open grants, the Entergy Charitable Foundation, site sponsorships, and annual events.  This amount includes Vermont Yankee employee pledges/company match to the tune of $109,000 to the United Way.

The sky is not falling.  Through all of the negativism generated by the anti-nuke activists, Vermont Yankee has been quietly and continuously producing safe, clean, reliable power for over 40 years.

I hope you will grant it a certificate of public good so that it can continue to do so.

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Deb Schulze spoke at the Interactive TV hearing about Vermont Yankee on November 19.  Her husband, Bill Schulze, works at Vermont Yankee.  She was kind enough to share her testimony and provide this picture.

I plan to keep posting pro-VY testimony to my blog, as I can do so.  I have about twenty guest posts of testimony so far, but approximately fifty people made public statements in favor of Vermont Yankee at the two hearings.  I think the individual voices are strong, and the sum of the voices is truly powerful.  So I will keep posting them!

Public Service Board Interactive TV

I went to the  Public Service Board's interactive TV hearing on Vermont Yankee last night.  I  attended the one near my home: the White River Junction studio.

There were twelve or thirteen studios involved in the meeting.  The meeting was about three hours long, and I stayed for the first two hours.  During the time I was there, there were about the same number of speakers in favor of Vermont Yankee as speaking against the plant.  Overall, however, there were more opponents present than supporters. There were many opponents in the Brattleboro studio, for example.  As the crowd thinned out and the night grew later, the balance of speakers probably tilted toward the opponents.

WCAX had a good short video on the hearing. WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-


Fox News and WPTZ also covered the story in short articles. I was interviewed this morning by another radio station.  I expect more coverage of the event will come later.

My Impression

I was most impressed by the pro-Vermont Yankee speakers.  As someone who is very concerned with air quality, especially NOX pollution, I appreciated the statements made by a man who spoke of growing up in Burlington Vermont when the electricity was supplied by a coal-fired plant.  He spoke of the bad health consequences due to this plant's air pollution.

I was least impressed by some of the opponents who said that Vermont Yankee just wasn't what they envisioned as Vermont.  They claimed that Vermont should be small farms and artisans and artists, and Vermont Yankee just doesn't fit in.  Several people spoke in terms of this bucolic image.  They ignore the part of Vermont that is Yankee ingenuity. Precision Valley? Did they ever hear of Precision Valley?  Springfield Vermont was such an important machine tool center that it was considered to have become an important bombing target during WWII.

They also ignore air quality, of course.

I don't have transcripts, but I hope to locate some of the testimony later, perhaps with the court reporter transcript.

After the weekend.

Public Service Board Hearings Tonight

Interactive TV Public Service Board hearings are tonight.  They start at 7 p.m., but come earlier to sign up to speak.  The Public Service Board is listening to the public about granting a Certificate of Public Good to Vermont Yankee for twenty years of operation.  Let your voice be heard!

Here is where the hearings will be held:



Bennington                Senior Citizens's Service Center, 124 Pleasant Street  
Brattleboro                 Brattleboro Union High School, 131 Fairground Road - Room 125
Johnson                      Johnson State College, Bentley Hall - Room 211
Lyndonville                 Lyndon State College, 1001 College Road
Middlebury                 Hannaford Career Center, 51 Charles Avenue - 2nd Floor
Montpelier                  Vermont Department of Labor, 5 Green Mountain Drive
Newport                       North Country Union High School, 209 Veterans Avenue
Randolph Center        Vermont Technical College, VIT Studio - Morrill Hall
Rutland                        Stafford Technical Center, 8 Stratton Road - Room 108
Springfield                   Howard Dean Education Center, 307 South Street - 2nd Floor
St. Albans                     Bellows Free Academy, 4 Hospital Drive
White River Jct.           Community College of Vermont, 145 Billings Farm Road
Williston                       Blair Park, 451 Lawrence Place

Here's a link to the docket (Docket 7862) at the Public Service Board web site.

And here is a link to my earlier blog post on the hearings, with further information.

The most recent blog posts on this blog are statements in favor of Vermont Yankee...look at them to get ideas of what you might want to say!

See you tonight!

Public Service Board Interactive Hearing on November 19

People lining up to sign up to speak at Nov 7 hearing
Note the Vermont Yankee green stickers!

The Public Service Board Hearing on November 7

The Public Service Board (PSB) held only one in-person hearing on Vermont Yankee, in Vernon Vermont on November 7.  The hearing was a triumph for Vermont Yankee supporters, because supporters outnumbered plant opponents and the supporters gave excellent testimony. I have almost a dozen guest posts of their testimony.

The Future: November 19

The PSB is holding one more hearing, not in person, but by interactive TV.  This hearing will be easier to attend, but it probably won't get as much publicity. However, nuclear opponent web sites talk about setting up their phone banks to get attendance for this interactive hearing. We need to have supporter voices heard, too!

This is how it will happen. There are interactive-TV studios in many places in Vermont.  On Monday November 19, at 7 p.m, hearings will begin at the interactive TV studios. Come early to sign up to speak!

The interactive TV studios are at:

Bennington--Senior Citizen's Service Center, 124 Pleasant Street
Brattleboro--Brattleboro Union High School, 131 Fairground Road, Room 125
Johnson--Johnson State College, Bentley Hall, Room 211
Lyndonville---Lyndon State College, 1001 College Road
Middlebury--Hannaford Career Center, 51 Chalres Avenue, 2nd Floor
Newport---North Country Union High School, 209 Veterans Avenue
Randolph Center--Vermont Technical College, VIT Studio, Morrill Hall
Rutland---Stafford Technical Center, 8 Stratton Road, Room 108
Springfield--Howard Dean Education Center, 307 South Street, 2nd Floor
St. Albans--Bellows Free Academy, 4 Hospital Drive
White River Junction--Community College of Vermont, 149 Billings Farm Road
Williston--Blair Park, 351 Lawrence Place

If you live in Vermont, there is surely a studio near you. Attend if you can.   Here's the PSB docket with the information on the hearings.

What Shall I Say?

When you go to the hearing, you should say why you support Vermont Yankee. Jobs, environment, economic contributions, general pro-nuclear statements...whatever you feel is your reason for support. This blog has many posts with testimony from previous hearings. Their reasons are different, but the conclusions are the same: The Public Service Board should issue a Certificate of Public Good for 20 more years of Vermont Yankee operation.

You will be limited to two or three minutes.  Just a few paragraphs or talking points will fill all your time. Preparing your statement should not be too difficult.  It is also possible that there will be many attendees and you will not get a chance to speak.  If this happens, you can email your statements to the PSB later. You can contact the PSB here. Be sure to mention Docket 7862.

The Past and the Future

The Vermont energy future can be buying power from out of state (including nuclear power) and laying off hundreds of people.  It can be greenhouse gases and acid gases from fossil fuels.

Or it can be continuing to have in-state jobs and  a clean power supply.  Come to the hearing to support nuclear power and Vermont Yankee.