COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- The Department of Energy has announced a conditional commitment of lending up to $1.52 billion to the owner of the Palisades Nuclear Plant to stoke the facility near South Haven back up.
The government is offering to lend the money to Holtec, which owns Palisades.
The plant in Covert Township has been shut down since May 2022.
"It was a bit of a hit when Palisades had gone cold and shuttered. And lots of jobs that had been there in engineering and other positions like that were either moved, or people retired. So, we're hopeful that this will bring jobs back into southwest Michigan," Michigan Fourth District Congressman Bill Huizenga said in a telephone interview with WOOD Radio.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a written statement that restarting the plant could produce a regional economic impact of $363 million annually. That is about what the Palisades plant was producing before it went offline nearly two years ago. Palisades employed 600 workers, but was shut down when its fuel supply ran out and the power purchase agreement with Consumers Energy expired.
The loan approval is conditioned on certain legal, technical and enviromental matters being hammered out.
"Certainly, this would be beneficial not only to southwest Michigan, but all of Michigan - and all of the Midwest," Huizenga said. "And frankly, we as a nation have to figure out what are we going to do with nuclear sites across the country as they are reaching the end of their life."
The Republican congressman acknowledges it may be costly to restart a facility like the Palisades Nuclear Power plant.
"It's more expensive restarting them, no doubt. But as we've got a couple of these plants across the country, this is just a great way of figuring out whether this is a good approach. And by all indications so far, this looks like this is the right direction to go."
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U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Michigan. 4th District.Photo: https://huizenga.house.gov/