Three Key Facts:
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- Wolverine Power Cooperative received a grant through the Biden-Harris Inflation Reduction Act to purchase 435 megawatts of clean energy – enough to power 80,000 homes a year. The deal is worth about $600 million over the next two decades.
- Wolverine will purchase the electricity from the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant, which is slated to reopen in 2025. The plant’s reopening is made possible by a long-term agreement with Wolverine, which will purchase up to two-thirds of its clean energy.
- Reopening the Palisades plant will create and 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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In what is being called the largest investment in rural electrification since the New Deal, Wolverine Power Cooperative (Wolverine) will be one of sixteen rural electric cooperatives to receive federal funding to deliver clean, more affordable and more reliable electricity to its rural rural co-op members.
Wolverine will use the funds to purchase electricity from the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township near South Haven once the power plant reopens in 2025. In a statement about the announcement, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said the investment “will drive down energy costs, help us make more clean, reliable energy right here in Michigan, and set us up to compete and win transformational economic development projects in the future.”
This project “has the potential to pass these savings and provide clean, reliable electricity for more than 300,000 homes, businesses, and farms in rural communities across the state,” Whitmer added.
The Palisades plant is a boon to the local economy. When it closed in May 2022, 739 jobs and over $259 million in regional output were lost, including $10 million in annual local property taxes. The reopening will create around 600 union jobs with an average salary of nearly $118,000.
Every 18 months, the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant will bring in 1,000 workers for scheduled refueling and maintenance. The plant’s reopening is possible because of the long-term agreement with Wolverine, which has committed to purchasing up to two-thirds of its carbon-free energy.
The federal grant will allow Wolverine to purchase 435 megawatts of clean energy – enough to power 80,000 homes a year. The electricity will be distributed to Cherryland Electric, Great Lakes Energy, and Presque Isle Electric & Gas in northern Michigan, as well as Midwest Energy & Communications and HomeWorks Tri-County Electric. All are nonprofit electric cooperatives. Wolverine estimates $600 million will go towards the project over 20 years.
Eric Baker, CEO of Wolverine said that the restart of Palisades “offers a practical, long-term solution to electric reliability in our state and aligns with Michigan’s ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions.”
Wolverine has an energy portfolio that is 60% non-carbon based. By purchasing electricity from Palisades, they will significantly increase that amount. Wolverine Vice President of Communications & Member Service, Casey Clark, said, “The restart of the Palisades plant puts Wolverine on track to reach 100% carbon-free energy before 2030, which is 10 years ahead of the state’s carbon-free target.”
Wolverine’s grant is part of a $7.3 billion investment through the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program, created by the Biden-Harris Inflation Reduction Act. The program helps rural communities transition to clean, affordable, and reliable energy. According to the program’s website, New ERA funding also reduces air and water pollution, improves health outcomes, and lowers energy costs for rural residents.
