Oct. 15--EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the final of two stories detailing a new report on the economics of closing Vermont Yankee in 2012. BRATTLEBORO -- A revenue-sharing agreement between Vermont Yankee and the state's utilities that goes into effect if the nuclear power plant continues to operate past 2012 is not all it's cracked up to be, said a pair of men who reviewed reams of documents filed with the Vermont Public Service Board.

BRATTLEBORO -- A revenue-sharing agreement between Vermont Yankee and the state's utilities that goes into effect if the nuclear power plant continues to operate past 2012 is not all it's cracked up to be, said a pair of men who reviewed reams of documents filed with the Vermont Public Service Board.

"While there is a small chance that it will have small value, conceivably as high as around $150 million, this could come only against the backdrop of Vermonters' buying over $3 billion of electricity from VY at market rates," said John Greenberg, who with Michael Daley, authored the study, which was released in August.

Greenberg and Daley's report flies in the face of expert testimony that was presented to the PSB earlier this year, which contended the revenue-sharing agreement would benefit Vermont ratepayers in the form of lower electricity bills.

"The main difference between our findings and those of other analysts is that we refused to take the assumptions being made at face value, and instead looked at how probable each was, and

how probable they were in combination," said Greenberg.

"We disagree that the RSA has no real value and with the unrealistic assumptions the authors used to reach the conclusion," said Larry Smith, director of communications for Yankee. "All the objective witnesses who testified in front of the Public Service Board agreed that the RSA represented significant value of varying amounts. The only people who said there was no value were those who had already concluded that Vermont Yankee should be shut down at any cost."

Entergy, which owns and operates the nuclear power plant in Vernon, has applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend the operating license of Yankee for another 20 years, from 2012 to 2032. In addition to NRC approval, Entergy must also receive a certificate of public good from the PSB and an OK from the Vermont Legislature.