§ 254. Construction or extended operation of nuclear plant; public engagement process
(a) Timelines for approval.
(1) Any petition for approval of construction of a nuclear energy generating plant within
the State, or any petition for approval of the operation of a nuclear energy generating
plant beyond the date established in a certificate of public good issued under this
title, must be submitted to the Public Utility Commission no later than four years
before the date upon which the approval may take effect.
(2) Upon receipt of a petition for approval of construction or operation as provided under
this section, the Public Utility Commission shall notify the General Assembly of that
fact. The Department of Public Service with the review of the Joint Energy Committee,
is authorized and directed to arrange for studies to be conducted as appropriate to
support the General Assembly in the fact finding and public engagement process established
in subsection (b) of this section.
(3) Upon completion of the studies, the Department of Public Service shall provide the
studies to the Public Utility Commission and to the Senate Committees on Finance and
on Natural Resources and Energy and the House Committees on Commerce and Economic
Development and on Environment and Energy together with other information requested
by the General Assembly.
(b) Public engagement and fact-finding.
(1) The objectives of the studies to be arranged by the Department of Public Service with
the review of the Joint Energy Committee and the objectives of the public engagement
process as a whole shall be:
(A) to facilitate public discussion of long-term economic and environmental issues relating
to the operation of any nuclear facility in the State;
(B) to identify and assess the potential need for the operation of the facility and its
long-term economic and environmental benefits, risks, and costs; and
(C) to assess all practical alternatives to those set forth in the applicant’s petition
that may be more cost-effective or that otherwise may better promote the general welfare.
(2) The studies arranged by the Department in consultation with the Joint Energy Committee
and the public engagement process, in general, shall:
(A) identify, collect information on, and provide analysis of long-term accountability
and financial responsibility issues, such as:
(i) funding plans for guardianship of nuclear waste after licensure but before removal
of nuclear waste from the site;
(ii) closure obligations, dates of completion, and assurance of funds to secure fulfillment
of those closure obligations;
(iii) federal obligations and assurance of funds to provide for any undischarged federal
responsibilities;
(iv) funding for emergency management requirements and evacuation plans before and after
plant closure; and
(v) any other financial responsibility related to any periods in which the facility is
out of service.
(B) identify, collect information on, and provide analysis of long-term environmental,
economic, and public health issues, including issues relating to dry cask storage
of nuclear waste and decommissioning options; and
(C) identify, collect information on, and provide analysis of current economic issues,
in light of the fact that the operation of the nuclear energy generating plant beyond
the date permitted in any previous certificate of public good is to be evaluated under
present day cost-benefit assumptions and analyses and not as an extension of the cost-benefit
assumptions and analyses forming the basis of the previous certificate of public good
for the operation of the facility.
(3) In conducting its part of the public engagement process, the Department shall conduct
no less than three public meetings. The meetings shall be at separate locations within
the State, in proximity to the nuclear energy generating facilities involved as well
as in other locations as determined by the Department, and each shall be noticed by
at least two advertisements, each occurring between one and three weeks prior to the
meetings, in newspapers having general circulation within the State and within the
municipalities in which the meetings are to be held. Copies of the notices shall be
provided to the Public Utility Commission, the General Assembly, the Agency of Natural
Resources, the Department of Health, the Agency of Transportation, the Attorney General,
and each retail electricity provider within the State. During this public engagement
and fact-finding process, the Department shall have authority to retain expert witnesses,
counsel, advisors, stenographic, and other research assistance it may require. The
Department may compensate the same and allocate related costs, as well as the costs
of procuring the studies, to the owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power station,
in the same manner authorized for personnel in particular proceedings under sections
20 and 21 of this title. The Department shall prepare a report of the proceedings containing a discussion
of the principal contentions made by members of the public, analyses by any expert
witnesses or consultants retained by the Department, and presentations by any State
agency and by any utility and shall provide the same to the members of the Senate
Committees on Finance and on Natural Resources and Energy and the House Committees
on Commerce and Economic Development and on Environment and Energy and to the public.
(4) The public engagement and fact finding process set forth in this section may be held
in conjunction with or separately from the statewide public engagement process on
energy planning to be conducted by the Department pursuant to the Energy Security
and Reliability Act.
(5) The General Assembly shall conduct proceedings it deems appropriate in order to complete
the fact finding and public engagement process.
(c) Public Utility Commission action. In acting on a petition subject to this section, the Commission shall consider the
objectives of the studies to be arranged by the Department, the objectives of the
public engagement process as a whole, and the general and specific issues that the
studies are required to address, as specified in subsection (b) of this section. (Added 2005, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; amended 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 173c.)