Three Key Facts:
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- Using a $1.52 billion federal loan through the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, Holtec Palisades will restart the Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert Township, Michigan by the end of 2025.
- Once operational, the plant will provide clean energy capable of powering over 600,000 homes until at least 2051.
- The plant reopening will create/restore 600 good-paying union jobs and bring economic growth to a region that was hard hit by the plant’s closure in 2022.
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The U.S. Department of Energy has approved a $1.5 billion loan guarantee to restart the Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert Township, Michigan. The move is a major step forward in the historic effort to repower the plant.
Once operational, the plant will provide clean energy capable of powering over 600,000 homes until at least 2051. The development will bring 600 union jobs, with average salaries of $117,845, back to the community, along with over 1,000 additional jobs during routine refueling and maintenance every 18 months.
The plant’s restart is supported by a labor agreement with 15 trade unions, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA).
A 2023 report by the University of Michigan’s Economic Growth Institute showed that, when the plant was shut down in May 2022, it resulted in a loss of 739 jobs and over $259 million in output for the region, in addition to the loss of clean electricity production.
“It was a disaster,” said IBEW Local 131 Business Manager Morris Applebey. “At least 10% of the population of St. Joe, South Haven and Covert left. Covert had to cut their school budget by 50%.” One Local 131 member’s son, a former apprentice who worked at Palisades, was forced to move his family to Arkansas to find work. With the reopening, he and his family are returning to Covert.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer told POWER magazine, “Once complete, Palisades will become the first successfully restarted nuclear power plant in American history, protecting 600 union jobs at the plant, 1,100 in the community, and access to clean, reliable power for 800,000 homes.” During a March 2024 visit to the plant, Whitmer said, “Palisades…will help us meet our state-wide clean energy goals by removing 3 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere annually.”
Speaking to POWER, Nick Culp, Palisades Nuclear Generating Station’s senior manager for Governmental Affairs, said, “The project is anticipated to avoid 4.47 million tons of CO2 emissions per year—in addition to other noxious greenhouse gasses—for a total of 111 million tons of CO2 over the next 25 years.” This is roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of removing more than 970,000 gasoline-powered cars from the road.
The plant is anticipated to be operational by the end of 2025, pending all necessary federal regulatory reviews and approvals. Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative was recently awarded a federal grant to purchase power from the plant once it is up and running.
The $1.52 billion loan to Holtec Palisades is the first project to be offered a conditional commitment through the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) program, part of the Biden-Harris Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which makes it possible for DOE to finance energy infrastructure and commercial clean energy projects.
The Palisades project is also part of the Biden-Harris Justice40 Initiative, which has a goal that 40% of overall benefits of certain federal investments go to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. The plant is in a disadvantaged community, where residents face higher energy costs than 97% of communities in the United States.
Before it was shut down, the Palisades plant ranked in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s highest safety category and was recognized as a top performing plant within the industry.
