BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) – State and federal regulators are raising concerns about a proposal by Vermont Yankee’s owners to release warmer water into the Connecticut River.

They say Entergy Nuclear has not done a good enough job of evaluating how the increased temperatures would affect Atlantic salmon smolts and migrating American shad.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources raised the concerns in a letter released Tuesday.

The letter largely agrees with concerns raised by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in April, which also faulted Entergy for not providing adequate information that the salmon and shad will be protected.

Entergy Nuclear wants to increase the temperature of the water it discharges into the Connecticut River by one degree in order to save money on operating its cooling towers.

The idea is not tied to the company’s proposal to increase the amount of power that Vermont Yankee can produce.

The increased temperatures would be in effect from May through October. Entergy’s proposal would allow the temperature in the river to be between two and five degrees higher than surrounding levels downstream.

The change is requested for times when the river is between 55 degrees up to 78 degrees.

Carol Carpenter, an environmental analyst with the Department of Environmental Conservation, said the state’s comments were based on comments from state fisheries biologists from Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Two research scientists with the United States Geologic Survey in Massachusetts, cited in a report commissioned by Entergy, said native warm water species in the area are “likely to be harmed by increases in temperatures when river temperatures are near their thermal limits.”

The scientists, Stephen McCormick and Alex Haro, recommended that temperatures in the river not be allowed to rise over 80 degrees until after July 10, to protect the spawning shad.

Brian Cosgrove, spokesman for Entergy Nuclear, said the company was committed to pursuing the increase in discharge water temperature.

“We’re having conversations with the folks at ANR (the Agency of Natural Resources), and we’re working with them,” he said.

Cosgrove said that he had no estimate on how much money would be saved by not using the cooling towers, even for only a degree or two. “We want to put more power on the grid,” he said. “You look for efficiencies wherever you can.”

AP-ES-07-16-03 1621EDT