The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is slated to close on Monday, Dec. 29. Employment at the plant will drop in the middle of January from around 550 employees to just over 300.
The impact is expected to be substantial in Windham County and across state lines in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Audio from this story will be posted at approximately 11 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 18.
Entergy announced the closing of Vermont Yankee in August of 2013. That early warning was helpful in allowing Windham County officials to plan for the closure.
Chris Campany, executive director of the Windham Regional Commission, says it's also been an impetus for his group to work with its counterparts in Franklin County, Massachusetts, and Cheshire County, New Hampshire.
"Each of these areas has already been looking at economic stagnation, and so we've already been talking about different strategies to promote better economic development." - Chris Campany, executive director of the Windham Regional Commission
“Each of these areas has already been looking at economic stagnation, and so we've already been talking about different strategies to promote better economic development,” says Campany.
Campany says a new study will be released soon that identifies the specific impacts that the closing will have so the three counties can better target how to mitigate its effects.
