- Email: [email protected]
The Saga Behind Visible Policy Meltdown
III. Policy Prerequisites for Informed Choice Regulators would have to overcome economic and behavioral obstacles. The Maryland Public Service Commission required the state’s utilities to pay for smart meters, for the time being. Smart houses enjoy no such subsidy. The resident pays for installation and a monthly maintenance fee, just as for a burglar alarm. This imbalance provides incentives against choosing smart houses. Regulators could require customers to pay for smart meters, or design a mechanism for utilities to pay up front for smart houses. The first would prove politically
BOOK NOTICE
T
he Saga Behind Visible Policy Meltdown Public Meltdown: The Story of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. Center for Research on Vermont, White River Press. 176 pp., $15 Based on research first reported in The Electricity Journal in May 2010,1 university researcher Richard Watts has published an account of the events leading to the shuttering of an Entergyowned nuclear power plant in Vermont. Public Meltdown: The Story of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant chronicles the in-state debate leading up to a 2010 Vermont Senate vote to close the plant—the first public vote to close a nuclear power plant since 1989. A year after the vote the Nuclear Reg-
April 2012, Vol. 25, Issue 3
difficult; the second could prove complicated administratively. Disputes could arise over the types of systems, who would make the choice, and the costs. Enforcement presents a more difficult issue. Regulators need not worry about energy savings with smart meters because utilities control consumption. With smart houses, customers do. Therefore, regulators must conceive a method to verify actual savings, perhaps through audits.
IV. Conclusion For energy efficiency to take hold, widespread privacy
ulatory Commission issued a 20-year license extension, putting the federal government at odds with the state. A month after the NRC issued it permit, Entergy sued the state in U.S. District Court. In January of this year, a federal judge voided the 2010 legislative vote but upheld the right of state regulators to review the license extension. Public Meltdown explores the debate that roiled Vermont, including the lawsuits and court action that followed. Dr. Watts carefully details the role of state governments, citizens, and activists in decisions about the nation’s aging nuclear power fleet, in a narrative that carries resonance for debates on similar themes that are unfolding in many other states. The nuclear plant at the center of this story has been a core piece of Vermont’s electric load for 40 years, providing about one-third of the state’s electricity since it first came on-line in 1972. Dr. Watts relies on interviews, document review, and an analysis of 1,409 newspaper, radio, and TV stories written between 2002 and 2010 to understand how a plant that was central to Vermont’s electric infrastructure came to be rejected by the state’s political leaders.
concerns require a response. Smart houses must become an alternative to opting out. Regulators must resolve difficult questions; their efforts will pay off.& Endnotes: 1. Joshua Z. Rokach, Unlocking the Smart Grid, ELEC. J., Oct. 2010, at 63–71. 2. See http://takecontrolmaryland. com/what_is_a_smart_meter.html linked to www.pepco.com. 3. Important Alert to the Community: What’s Wrong With Smart Meters, The Advertiser, Oct. 7, 2011, at 22. 4. http://home.howstuffworks.com/ smart-home.htm. doi:/10.1016/j.tej.2012.03.007
This story also spotlights the relicensing of nuclear power plants and the role of state governments in the industry’s efforts to prolong the life of the 40-year-old nuclear power plants located across the country. A New York Times reporter summarized it this way: ‘‘While Vermont Yankee demonstrates the ability of a single plant to squander public trust, it also demonstrates the emergence of the states in nuclear regulation.’’2 The book was published on March 21 by the Center for Research on Vermont and White River Press and is available at local bookstores or online. More information is available at the author’s Web page at publicmeltdown.org.& Endnotes: 1. Richard Watts, Paul Hines and Jonathan Dowds, The Debate over Re-Licensing the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, ELEC. J., May 2010. 2. Matthew L. Wald, Edging Back to Nuclear Power, N.Y. TIMES, April 22, 2010. doi:/10.1016/j.tej.2012.04.011
1040-6190/$–see front matter # 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
97
BOOK NOTICE
T
he Saga Behind Visible Policy Meltdown Public Meltdown: The Story of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. Center for Research on Vermont, White River Press. 176 pp., $15 Based on research first reported in The Electricity Journal in May 2010,1 university researcher Richard Watts has published an account of the events leading to the shuttering of an Entergyowned nuclear power plant in Vermont. Public Meltdown: The Story of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant chronicles the in-state debate leading up to a 2010 Vermont Senate vote to close the plant—the first public vote to close a nuclear power plant since 1989. A year after the vote the Nuclear Reg-
April 2012, Vol. 25, Issue 3
difficult; the second could prove complicated administratively. Disputes could arise over the types of systems, who would make the choice, and the costs. Enforcement presents a more difficult issue. Regulators need not worry about energy savings with smart meters because utilities control consumption. With smart houses, customers do. Therefore, regulators must conceive a method to verify actual savings, perhaps through audits.
IV. Conclusion For energy efficiency to take hold, widespread privacy
ulatory Commission issued a 20-year license extension, putting the federal government at odds with the state. A month after the NRC issued it permit, Entergy sued the state in U.S. District Court. In January of this year, a federal judge voided the 2010 legislative vote but upheld the right of state regulators to review the license extension. Public Meltdown explores the debate that roiled Vermont, including the lawsuits and court action that followed. Dr. Watts carefully details the role of state governments, citizens, and activists in decisions about the nation’s aging nuclear power fleet, in a narrative that carries resonance for debates on similar themes that are unfolding in many other states. The nuclear plant at the center of this story has been a core piece of Vermont’s electric load for 40 years, providing about one-third of the state’s electricity since it first came on-line in 1972. Dr. Watts relies on interviews, document review, and an analysis of 1,409 newspaper, radio, and TV stories written between 2002 and 2010 to understand how a plant that was central to Vermont’s electric infrastructure came to be rejected by the state’s political leaders.
concerns require a response. Smart houses must become an alternative to opting out. Regulators must resolve difficult questions; their efforts will pay off.& Endnotes: 1. Joshua Z. Rokach, Unlocking the Smart Grid, ELEC. J., Oct. 2010, at 63–71. 2. See http://takecontrolmaryland. com/what_is_a_smart_meter.html linked to www.pepco.com. 3. Important Alert to the Community: What’s Wrong With Smart Meters, The Advertiser, Oct. 7, 2011, at 22. 4. http://home.howstuffworks.com/ smart-home.htm. doi:/10.1016/j.tej.2012.03.007
This story also spotlights the relicensing of nuclear power plants and the role of state governments in the industry’s efforts to prolong the life of the 40-year-old nuclear power plants located across the country. A New York Times reporter summarized it this way: ‘‘While Vermont Yankee demonstrates the ability of a single plant to squander public trust, it also demonstrates the emergence of the states in nuclear regulation.’’2 The book was published on March 21 by the Center for Research on Vermont and White River Press and is available at local bookstores or online. More information is available at the author’s Web page at publicmeltdown.org.& Endnotes: 1. Richard Watts, Paul Hines and Jonathan Dowds, The Debate over Re-Licensing the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, ELEC. J., May 2010. 2. Matthew L. Wald, Edging Back to Nuclear Power, N.Y. TIMES, April 22, 2010. doi:/10.1016/j.tej.2012.04.011
1040-6190/$–see front matter # 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
97