On January 19, the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont issued a permanent injunction sought by Entergy Corp., ruling that a Vermont state permit law was preempted by the federal Atomic Energy Act. The decision will allow Entergy’s aging Vermont Yankee power plant to remain open, and separately denies the state the right to condition the plant’s operation on power being sold at below-market rates. More than half of Vermont Yankee’s power remains in state and the plant’s capacity is one-third of the state’s energy needs.