LANSING, Mich., Jan. 23 Michigan's attorney general will ask state regulators to block the sale of the Palisades nuclear plant over fears of pricier and less reliable electricity.Mike Cox said Monday he'll testify before the Michigan Public Service Commission against the sale of Palisades by Consumer's Energy to Entergy Nuclear Palisades LLC.My experts conclude that ratepayers will pay at least $62 million more for electricity for the next nine years than they otherwise would if the sale did not go through, Cox said in a news release. He also said the state would lose its ability to regulate power prices since Entergy is an energy wholesaler and not regulated by the commission.Palisades is a single reactor plant generating 789 megawatts of power in Covert, Mich., on Lake Michigan. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week approved Palisades' license renewal for 20 years, allowing it to operate through 2030.Entergy would pay $380 million for the plant. Consumers would get $375 million and $5 million would be returned to ratepayers via rebates.Consumers would still purchase power from Palisades and deliver it to customers.Cox's office is also worried Entergy would opt to avoid paying expensive repairs by just shuttering the plant (a 12-month notice is required within the first 15 years of operation).Consumers is also offering to give up to $316 million to consumers from its decommissioning fund, money charged to ratepayers put into an account to pay for clearing the plant from the site.Matt Frendewey, a spokesman for Cox, said the fund would still have the minimum amount needed legally, but is far below the more than $550 million that Consumers has said it is needed to pay to decommission Palisades.Every part of this deal is a little catch that we find a problem with, Frendewey said. Copyright 2007 by UPI
