Entergy Corporation’s latest tactics in its fight with the State of Vermont reminded me today why the energy industry in the United States has such a bad reputation with the public. It’s an approach and a reputation that the industry needs to work hard to change if the United States is going to make a successful transition to sustainable energy in the coming years.
Entergy operates Vermont Yankee, a 40-year-old nuclear reactor built in 1972 on the banks of the Connecticut River. Recently, Entergy won approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to continue to operate Vermont Yankee for an additional 20 years. Under Vermont law, however, both houses of the state legislature must approve any new operating permit for a nuclear reactor in the state. And, for over a year, Entergy has not been able to persuade the state legislature to reauthorize the plant to run beyond March 2012. So, this morning, Entergy filed suit in Federal Court, arguing that the Supreme Court has previously ruled that states have no authority in licensing nuclear power plants.
Now, I know nothing about the law on this question, but I do know something about the politics of technology. To put it mildly, it’s just plain bad politics for a New Orleans-based company to sue the State of Vermont to force it to accept Federal authority to allow a nuclear power plant to continue to operate past its originally designed lifetime.
It would be bad enough, if on no other grounds, for a non-local company to ask a state’s residents to continue to accept the risks of nuclear energy against their expressed will (at least as expressed by the votes of their representatives).
But, of course, 2011 is the year of the Tea Party. And the people of Vermont have never been terribly enamored of the Federal Government. What is their slogan, “Don’t Tread on Me”?
And then there’s the context of ongoing news about Fukushima. It’s not exactly a good time for the image of nuclear power, in general, and Vermont Yankee does not exactly have a squeaky clean safety record. Indeed, Vermont Yankee has an ongoing history of leaks of radioactive tritium, dating back to 2005. It thus seems an especially bad time for public relations to try to circumvent local authority over nuclear reactors.
As the energy industry enters a decades-long period of significant transition, the kind of business-as-usual practices reflected in the Entergy/Vermont Yankee case are deeply problematic. I fully understand the financial demands facing energy companies. Nonetheless, achieving a stable, innovative, long-term energy transition will demand productive relationships – not antagonistic fist-fights – between communities and energy providers. Imposing their will on local communities cannot be the answer; it has doomed even solar power plants to growing public protests and opposition. Rather, energy companies must rethink their strategies and approach communities as partners in fashioning a new and exciting energy future.
About the Author: Clark Miller is associate director at CSPO and CNS-ASU and associate professor in ASU’s School of Politics and Global Studies.
