MONTPELIER – Entergy made a last-ditch effort Tuesday to save the Vermont Yankee plant ahead of a critical Senate vote scheduled for today, offering the state a block of cheap electricity for three years if the troubled nuclear reactor is relicensed.

Curt Hebert Jr., vice president of Entergy Corp., announced Tuesday at the Statehouse that Vermont Yankee would sell 25 megawatts of energy at 4 cents a kilowatt hour for three years after 2012 to the state's utilities.

Hebert, an Entergy official from Louisiana who has been in Vermont for nearly three weeks during the controversy surrounding Vermont Yankee, said this offer – which he described as a "gift" to the state – was unrelated to today's vote in the Senate.

"This is a tough economy and everyone needs to do their part," Hebert said, calling the offer a "game changer." "This is us doing our part."

Hebert's press conference – attended by a roomful of lawmakers, lobbyists, reporters and about 50 Vermont Yankee workers who bused up that morning – started off with the company apologizing for the company's recent actions and cracking folksy jokes with the crowd.

But he quickly went on defense when reporters asked him about Entergy's level of transparency in recent years.

"I'm saying we made some mistakes," said Hebert, who brushed aside concerns from anti-nuclear groups and lawmakers as based on "propaganda from the '70s." "We are in America. We are in Vermont. Thank God we are still allowed to make mistakes.

When asked why the public was just finding out now about a tritium leak in 2005 – an allegation that was brought to the state's attention via an anonymous whistleblower – Hebert said the company filed all the required documents with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about that leak.

"Those documents are out there for anyone to see," he said. "Who was surprised by it?"

Senate Democrats – poised to vote today on a bill authorizing 20 more years of operation for Vermont Yankee – called the new offer "inconsequential." Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, who scheduled the vote for today, noted that this new offer of 25 megawatts for three years is at "the price we are paying now."

"This offer does nothing to change the underlying concerns that we have," said Shumlin, a Windham County Democrat who is running for governor.

Sen. John Campbell, D-Windsor, the Senate's majority leader, seemed offended by the attitude taken by Hebert at the press conference. He said there are serious allegations levied against Entergy – including that executives lied under oath to regulators.

"Don't be fooled by the nice southern drawl and cute clichés," Campbell said.

Entergy's offer comes with several strings attached. First, Entergy needs to receive the 20-year license extension from the NRC and a certificate of public good from the Vermont Public Service Board.

They are also requiring that the credit terms in the company's current energy contract with utilities are "replicated in the new (power purchase agreement)," according to Entergy's press release.

The company also requires that the state's two largest utilities – Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service – enter into a 20-year contract with Vermont Yankee under a deal similar to the "best offer" unveiled in December 2009.

That deal – which offered one-third of the power now sold to the state over 20 years for about 6.1 cents a kilowatt hour – has been rejected by the utilities. Both CVPS and GMP said Tuesday this new offer "sweetens" the deal, but they remained noncommittal.

"This appears to be a step in the right direction," said Dorothy Schnure, the spokesperson for GMP.

David O'Brien, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Service, called the offer a "positive step," although he added that he had hoped the deal would be for more than just three years.

The response from energy lobbyists in the building was mixed.

Christopher Kilian, director of the Vermont's Conservation Law Foundation, said it would be cheaper for Vermont to invest in energy efficiency at 2 cents a kilowatt hour than to accept Entergy's deal.

"This is a bad deal," Kilian said. "It appears to be a financial offer made to influence the vote."

Bob Stannard, a lobbyist for the anti-nuclear Citizens Action Network, called the power offer a "bribe released on the eve of the Senate vote." He said it was disingenuous of Entergy to say the announcement was unrelated to the vote.

But William Driscoll, vice president of Associated Industries of Vermont, said he and other business leaders were pleased with the offer Entergy put on the table.

"This could make a big difference for companies in Vermont," he said.

daniel.barlow@rutlandherald.com