Montpelier, VT – Gov. Peter Shumlin and Public Service Department Commissioner Christopher Recchia announced today the receipt of $5.3 million from Entergy Vermont Yankee (VY) for the development of clean energy, and confirmation that Entergy has deposited $10 million as its first payment into the Vermont Yankee Site Restoration Fund. Both payments were part of the Settlement Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Entergy and the State signed in December 2013.
The $5.3 million will be administered by the Public Service Department’s Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) to aid in the development of renewable energy sources across Vermont. As required by the MOU, the CEDF will spend at least 50 percent of these funds for clean energy development activities in or for the benefit of Windham County. The Site Restoration Fund will be held in trust and grow over time until it is needed to help restore the Vernon, VT site.
“We are pleased that with these deposits Entergy VY has completed its financial commitments for this year, all in accordance with the terms of the Agreements” said Recchia. “The Public Service Board’s decision last week to uphold its earlier endorsement of the Agreement made moving forward with these payments possible.”
The CEDF and its Clean Energy Development Board will be taking public comments to inform and aid in the creation of a plan for the deployment of the $5.3 million. Specifically in order to obtain comments directly from Windham County residents the Clean Energy Development Board held a public hearing in Brattleboro on Wednesday, May 14th at 5:30 at the Brattleboro Union High School, in the Multi-purpose Room.
The CEDF will be particularly interested in investing in the development of the distributed generation clean energy sector of the Vermont and Windham County economies in coordination with State and regional economic development organizations. Andrew Perchlik, Fund Manager of the CEDF said:, “These are the last funds the CEDF expect to receive from Entergy and we want to be sure to leverage these dollars to achieve maximum economic and clean energy benefit to the State and Windham County.”
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