|  So, despite earlier threats to shut-down cold this fall if not granted the requested preliminary injunction to continue operating past March 2012, Entergy has decided to refuel Vermont Yankee.
There is still some more profit to be extracted from the old tin can, even if only until March; and look what just this gesture of confidence has done for Entergy stock: Following the 8 AM release of the decision to refuel, the company's stock rose as soon as the market opened Monday, ending the day up 47 cents to $68.78 a share. It's all about gamesmanship, an Entergy specialty. If rather than refueling, they had lived-up to their threat and announced an immediate closure, not only would their stock have taken a huge and long-lasting hit, but the prospects for their case against the state would have gone right up the spout. Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates sheds some additional light on Entergy's likely motives: Without new fuel, Entergy could not have kept the plant running at full power beyond this fall, said Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer in Burlington and a critic of the plant. Running the plant at reduced power is less reliable and less profitable, he said. Gunderson goes somewhat further and speculates that, even if allowed to operate past next March, the plant might in any case close in 2015: Vermont Yankee faces replacing a $100 million condenser and making repairs that will be required in response to the March failure of the Fukushima plant in Japan following an earthquake and tsunami. “They may decide to throw in the towel in 2015,” Gundersen said. “It makes no economic sense.” This way, any bad news for investors may be kicked down the road while the cash-cow that is VY, though elderly and prone to leakage, can still be stripped for the cream she continues to yield.
"VT thinks ENVY wants a 20 year marriage, but what they really want is a series of 20 years of one night stands. The moment VY becomes too costly, they will be gone!" |
