The new contract with Hydro-Québec for 220 megawatts through 2038 is a great deal for Vermonters. As March 2012 draws closer and with it the conclusion of Vermont Yankee's current contract, it was encouraging to see utilities, government officials, and a big company work together and finalize a new agreement that includes a significant amount of clean and well-priced electricity for Vermont ratepayers.
The same can, and should be, said of the long-discussed power deal with Vermont Yankee. A new contract is likely to be even cheaper for ratepayers than Hydro-Québec, and the carbon footprints for the two power sources are almost identically low. Both deliver electricity with exceptional reliability.
In other words, Hydro-Québec and Vermont Yankee are great deals economically and environmentally, which is more than can be said of the third alternative open to Vermont utilities, purchasing power from the New England grid, dominated by a hodgepodge of southern New England fossil-fuel plants.
And Vermont Yankee offers what no one else does, and what all of our politicians say they are so keen to produce: hundreds of jobs, and millions and millions of dollars in revenue for essential government programs. Recent reports issued by state and federal overseers show that Vermont Yankee's well-publicized problems of trust and reliability have been resolved satisfactorily enough for relicensing to proceed.
Vermont Yankee is a reliable power generator that deserves a second look, and a new contract.