Ex-Yankee owner in High Court today
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By SUSAN SMALLHEER Rutland Herald Staff - Published: May 12, 2009
MONTPELIER — The Vermont Supreme Court will hear arguments today on how much money the state owes the former owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in interest on a tax refund stemming from contributions the former owner made to the plant's decommissioning fund in 1992.
The issue involves the 1992 tax return filed by Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp., according to Danforth Cardozo, an attorney with the Vermont Department of Taxes.
Cardozo said that the state has already given Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. $800,000 in a tax refund in 2005, and the company is seeking interest dating back to 1992.
But Cardozo said the state believes Vermont Yankee is only entitled to interest back to 2005, which is when the company finally resolved its dispute with the federal government and finally filed its amended 1992 return. Cardozo said he didn't know the exact amount of back interest Vermont Yankee was seeking, but he said it was in the neighborhood of $750,000.
At the heart of the issue was the contributions the company made to its decommissioning fund, he said.
Chris Roy of the Burlington office of Downs Rachlin Martin, Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp.'s lawyer, couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
Cardozo said Vermont Yankee's original 1992 return showed taxable income of $15.1 million, but the company later tried to amend its return to show $3.2 million in taxable income. In 2005, it filed an amended return to show $7.9 million in income, after reaching an agreement with federal tax officials.
The company had claimed an $11.6 million deduction for payments to the Department of Energy, he said.
The Vermont tax system is piggybacked to the federal system, Cardozo said, and back in 1994 the state told Vermont Yankee to come back to them once it got a ruling from the federal government.
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. owned the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant until 2002, when it sold the Vernon reactor to Entergy Nuclear of Jackson, Miss. Since then, Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. exists only as a power broker, according to Robert Williams, spokesman for Entergy Nuclear.
"We sell all our power to Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. and they implement the power sales. They handle the contracts we have," Williams said, referring all questions to the president, John Boguslawski. Boguslawski didn't return messages seeking comment.
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. is located near the corporate headquarters of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee in North Brattleboro, and at one time was located in the same building and was run by Bruce Wiggett, a longtime Vermont Yankee executive.
susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com
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