Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin rolled out his new proposed funding source to pay for the efficiency utility that is supposed to help make your house more energy efficient. It is - drumroll please - tax on Entergy Corp.'s increased Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant profits.

It would start with $2 million this year, increase to $5 million in 2008 and then by $2 million each year after that through 2012, when Vermont Yankee's Vermont license expires.

The premise is that Vermont Yankee has increased revenues more than anticipated since it was granted permission last year to operate at a higher capacity. Also, that storing nuclear waste in dry casks on site along the Connecticut River is proving to be a longer-term engagement than once thought, so Shumlin argues, Vermont Yankee should pay Vermont for that.

I expect any minute now to hear the reasons from Entergy why this is a bad idea.

The reality is that there are no funding sources for anything that won't make somebody yelp. Shumlin, whose Windham County district plays host to the nuclear power plant, will win support for this from many of his constituents who would just as soon tax Vermont Yankee right off the map.

This fight in the Statehouse is likely to come down to what is the best way to promote energy-efficiency in homes and businesses. Many Democrats want this Efficiency Vermont-style utility, and if they create that, they need a way to pay for it. Four Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committe question whether that's the right method at all.

Shumlin's proposal is also bound to set off another debate about nuclear power , a debate that has taken a new turn amid all the talk about global warming. Nuclear power plant companies such as Entergy are pitching their product as green because they don't contribute greenhouse gases.

- Terri Hallenbeck