ETR To Continue Operating Vermont Yankee Beyond March 2012 Cut-Off Date, Jefferies Reports

Jefferies believes that Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) “will continue to operate Vermont Yankee beyond the March 2012 cut-off date based on our conversations with state officials and intervenor parties.”

“This would force the state to file a lawsuit in federal court seeking a shut-down of the plant. Governor Peter Shumlin and others in the legislature do not appear to be backing down from their position to block the plant from operating beyond the current operating license,” Jefferies writes. “This is despite a March 2011 state poll indicating that 45% believe that Vermont Yankee's license should be renewed.

“The poll results are not surprising given the lack of economic alternatives to Vermont Yankee power. Although the poll was conducted prior to the Japanese nuclear crisis, it is still a significant difference from the same poll conducted a year earlier in which 31% voted in favor and 52% against.”

Entergy Corporation closed Monday at $67.34.