An energy development company has signed a lease for the former Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant site in Vernon, but it's unclear what they plan to do with the property.
The Texas-based PowerTransitions initially said it wanted to build a battery energy storage system, or BESS, at the site. But Vernon Planning Commission Chair Jim Pinkerton said at the board’s last meeting a representative from the company said it was also considering small modular reactors, or SMRs, which is a new type of nuclear technology that produces up to 300 megawatts of energy.
Pinkerton said PowerTransitions has also discussed siting a data center in Vernon, though he said any discussions are still in the very preliminary stage and it would likely be a few years before any project reaches the permitting phase.
Public Service Commissioner Kerrick Johnson said the state has been holding wide-ranging talks with representatives from PowerTransitions about its plans for the Vernon site.
“We have been in discussions with PowerTransitions since last fall on our responsibilities and rights relative to the Vernon site and our hopes and expectations for what might come next that best serves the community, state and region,” Johnson said in an email. “We have discussed SMRs, fusion generation, compressed air generation, solar, and batteries. And probably a couple I have missed.”
A spokesperson for PowerTransitions declined to answer questions about the company’s plans.
According to its website, PowerTransitions specializes in acquiring retired power infrastructure, such as shuttered coal or nuclear sites, and redeveloping the properties for energy storage systems, data centers or new power generation facilities.
The company is currently converting a former coal plant into a 192-megawatt data center near Kansas City, Kansas.
The commercial demolition company NorthStar Group Services took over the approximately 140-acre site in Vernon in 2019 and has been decommissioning the property.
The company is moving along with the project and is under budget and ahead of the scheduled 2030 date for completing its work, according to the company’s latest report to the Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel.
Throughout the process, NorthStar has said the town would have a say in the future use of the property, but Vernon town officials say they did not have any input into the decision to lease the land to PowerTransitions, which will now decide if, and how, the land is put to use once the decommissioning work is completed.
“NorthStar felt comfortable leasing that to PowerTransitions without querying the town on that,” Pinkerton said. “We’re real interested in what they have in mind to try to use for that site.”
For now, 58 steel and concrete dry casks containing high-level nuclear waste will remain on the site in Vernon.
The site also includes a high-voltage switchyard, which is important to any future energy development.
Pinkerton said the company is trying to schedule a site visit with the planning commission for later this summer to talk about the potential uses of the property.
“When Power Transitions first came to the planning commission, their original interest was in putting a battery storage facility on that site,” Pinkerton said. “It’s grown over the years as PowerTransitions has grown. It’s the very early stage, and what they’re doing is they’re sticking their toes into the water to feel what the temperature is.”
