The Vermont Building and Construction Trades Council descended upon the state capitol of Montpelier on January 4th to urge state legislators to vote in favor of the continued operation of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

Entergy, which owns and operates Yankee, has applied to the NRC to extend the operating license of Yankee for 20 more years, from 2012 to 2032. In addition to NRC approval, Entergy must also receive a certificate of public good from the Public Service Board and the OK from the Vermont Legislature.

"Our members have logged thousands of hours at the facility since it opened in 1972," stated Jeff Potvin, business manager of UA Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 693, in a press release announcing the press conference. "The subcontracting opportunities available at Vermont Yankee are immense," stated Potvin. "They all pay above-average wages, health care and retirement benefits, and are vital to the regional economy."

Vermont Yankee produces 650 megawatts of power and employs about 650 people on a full-time basis. The 1,200-member International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 300, which represents about 200 full-time workers at Yankee, will attend.

In addition to those full-time employees, many workers are employed at the plant on a temporary basis during refueling operations, which typically employs about 1,100 trades workers for six weeks every 18 months.

"Closing Vermont Yankee would effectively squash hundreds of union jobs that pay wages far exceeding the norm for our area," stated IBEW Local 300 President George Clain. "Eliminating these careers, along with the almost certain rise of statewide electricity rates if Vermont Yankee exits our energy portfolio, is not in the best interests of working Vermonters."

Clain also stated it would be irresponsible of the Legislature to say no to the plant’s continued operation because of the millions of dollars in payroll, state and local taxes that come from Yankee’s operations.

That doesn’t even include the $100 million in economic activity generated by the plant and its employees.

"Vermont is in need of quality jobs and access to reasonably priced, low-carbon, domestically-produced energy," stated Clain.