ML20078M056
| ML20078M056 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palo Verde  |
| Issue date: | 03/18/2020 |
| From: | Annette Vietti-Cook NRC/SECY |
| To: | Markey E, Merkley J, Sanders B US Congress, US SEN (Senate) |
| SECY RAS | |
| References | |
| 50-528-LT, 50-529-LT, 50-530-LT, 72-044-LT, License Transfer, RAS 55611 | |
| Download: ML20078M056 (6) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 The Honorable Jeffrey A. Merkley United States Senate Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Merkley:
March 18, 2020 On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter of March 10, 2020, to Chairman Svinicki regarding the application by El Paso Electric Company for transfer of its Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station and Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation licenses. We understand your letter to support the existing request that the Commission hold an adjudicatory hearing in this matter.
Because the NRC has received a request for hearing on the license transfer application and your letter relates to subjects that may be raised during any resultant adjudication, the Commission must remain impartial and it would be inappropriate for the Chairman to discuss or comment on your letter at this time.
A copy of your letter and this response will be served on the parties in the Palo Verde proceeding.
Sincerely, Annette L. Vietti-Cook
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 SECRETARY The Honorable Edward J. Markey United States Senate Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Markey:
March 18, 2020 On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter of March 10, 2020, to Chairman Svinicki regarding the application by El Paso Electric Company for transfer of its Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station and Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation licenses. We understand your letter to support the existing request that the Commission hold an adjudicatory hearing in this matter.
Because the NRC has received a request for hearing on the license transfer application and your letter relates to subjects that may be raised during any resultant adjudication, the Commission must remain impartial and it would be inappropriate for the Chairman to discuss or comment on your letter at this time.
A copy of your letter and this response will be served on the parties in the Palo Verde proceeding.
Sincerely, Annette L. Vietti-Cook
UNITED ST ATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 SECRETARY The Honorable Bernard Sanders United States Senate Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Sanders:
March 18, 2020 On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter of March 10, 2020, to Chairman Svinicki regarding the application by El Paso Electric Company for transfer of its Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station and Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation licenses. We understand your letter to support the existing request that the Commission hold an adjudicatory hearing in this matter.
Because the NRC has received a request for hearing on the license transfer application and your letter relates to subjects that may be raised during any resultant adjudication, the Commission must remain impartial and it would be inappropriate for the Chairman to discuss or comment on your letter at this time.
A copy of your letter and this response will be served on the parties in the Palo Verde proceeding.
Sincerely, Annette L. Vietti-Cook
ilnitcd ~rates ~cnatc WASHINGTON, DC 20510 Chairwoman Kristin L. Svinicki U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 March 10, 2020
Dear Chairwoman Svinicki and Commissioners,
We are writing to request an evidentiary hearing with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in relation to the acquisition of El Paso Electric by the Infrastructure Investments Fund (IIF) US Holdings 2. The NRC Docket ID is NRC-2018-0214. El Paso Electric is partial owner of the Palo Verde nuclear power station and the proposed purchase required NRC approval for the indirect transfer of control licenses for Palo Verde to IIF. Throughout the El Paso Electric acquisition process, JP Morgan Chase has not been forthcoming with information about its relationship to IIF. Although IIF acknowledged its affiliation with JP Morgan Chase to the Public Utility Commission of Texas1, it has failed to disclose the full nature of its relationship to federal regulators. A hearing will cmTect the record as to the true ownership and control over IIF.
El Paso Electric serves over 400,000 customers in the city of El Paso and other parts of Texas and New Mexico. As a publically traded, investor-owned utility, El Paso Electric consumers are able to access the utility's disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The sale of El Paso Electric to IIF will make it a private company and consumers will no longer have access to information about the utility's finances.
The application for purchase of El Paso Electric submitted to federal regulators on August 13, 2019 did not acknowledge the numerous ties between IIF and JP Morgan Chase including the role of employees from JP Morgan's Infrastructure Investment Group (IIG) in the day-to-day operations of IIF and the role of JP Morgan investment advisors on the board of directors of several IIF companies. On December 5'\\ the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an Order ruling the application to be deficient, and demanding significant new disclosures concerning the complex relationship between IIF and JP Morgan Chase. The disclosure of this information is vital to protect the interests of the customers of El Paso Electric.
NRC has a responsibility to fully examine the facts and decide if JP Morgan Chase should be labeled as an affiliate of all the IIF shell companies. El Paso's customers deserve to !mow who is purchasing their utility. An evidentiary hearing will give them an opportunity to understand what entity is purchasing the utility and how it manages its finances and operations and add much needed transparency to the transaction.
1 At paragraph 74, http://interchange.puc.texas.gov/Documents/49849_262_1044586.PDF
Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to your response.
Bernard Sanders United States Senator -
Sincerely,
~rl~*~
United States Senator
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of
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EL PASO ELECTRIC COMPANY
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Docket Nos. 50-528, 50-529, 50-530
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and 72-44-LT Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station
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(Units 1, 2, and 3 and ISFSI)
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing Letters from NRC Secretary, Annette Vietti-Cook, to Senators Merkley, Markey, and Sanders have been served upon the following persons by Electronic Information Exchange.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication Mail Stop: O-16B33 Washington, DC 20555-0001 ocaamail@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the General Counsel Mail Stop: O-14A44 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Reginald Augustus, Esq.
Tison Campbell, Esq.
David E. Roth, Esq.
Jeremy Wachutka, Esq.
Anita G. Naber, Esq.
reginald.augustus@nrc.gov tison.campbell@nrc.gov david.roth@nrc.gov jeremy.wachutka@nrc.gov anita.ghoshnaber@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the Secretary of the Commission Mail Stop: O-16B33 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Hearing Docket hearingdocket@nrc.gov Public Citizen, Inc.
215 Pennsylvania Ave., SE Washington, DC 20003 Tyson Slocum tslocum@citizen.org Counsel for El Paso Electric Company Robert Warnement, Esq.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, et al 1440 New York Ave., NW Washington, DC 20005 robert.warnement@skadden.com
[Original signed by Herald M. Speiser ]
Office of the Secretary of the Commission Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of March, 2020.