Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee on Wednesday filed notices with the Vermont Department of Labor and the Town of Vernon that 165 employees will experience an employment loss starting on January 19, 2015. Entergy announced in August 2013 that Vermont Yankee would permanently cease operations by the end of 2014. Even though Entergy announced the plant closure last year, Entergy is issuing notices to employees and local officials now to ensure compliance with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
The WARN Act was enacted in 1989 to offer protection to workers, their families and communities by requiring certain employers to provide notice 60 days in advance of certain plant closings and mass layoffs.
At the time of the 2013 shutdown announcement, there were approximately 625 active employees at Vermont Yankee. The company announced immediately that a retention plan was approved for all management employees with discussions with IBEW union leadership scheduled. Ultimately, all employees were offered the retention bonus regardless of bargaining status.
Additionally, Vermont Yankee offered 316 interested employees the opportunity to remain at the facility through early 2016 to initiate decommissioning. As of November 1, there are 554 active employee.
Of the 165 employees leaving employment at Vermont Yankee starting on January 19, 2015, 69 reside in Vermont, 48 reside in New Hampshire and 39 reside in Massachusetts.
Since the plant closure was announced, 40 Vermont Yankee employees have decided to retire and 79 have transferred or will be transferring to another Entergy facility.
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation’s leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 14,000 employees.
Source: Entergy Vermont Yankee. 11.20.2014