Feds offer $1.5B loan to restart Palisades plant

COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — The U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday announced a $1.5 billion “conditional commitment” to support the reopening of the Palisades nuclear power plant.

The Palisades Power Plant, located near South Haven and off Lake Michigan, shut down in May 2022 after 50 years. Now, the DOE’s Loan Programs Office is prepared to lend up to $1.52 billion to owner Holtec to bring the plant back online. It would mark the first restart of a closed nuclear reactor in U.S. history.

“I think that there had been a decision that the plant was of a certain age and that they were going to divest of it. And there wasn’t a buyer, there wasn’t an opportunity in front,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday. “And we looked at it, we thought, ‘Let’s start thinking creatively.’ I can’t tell you how many times people said, ‘It can’t be done, it can’t be done.’ And yet we’re here today to prove it can be done.”

The plant already has infrastructure in place, but the DOE says the project will involve inspections, tests, rebuilding and replacing some existing equipment.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the restart will create 1,000 jobs, while the plant will support 600 permanent jobs once it is up and running.

“I know what this means to this community,” Granholm, formerly the governor of Michigan, said Wednesday. “I know it means jobs. I know it means livelihoods. I know it means identity. I know it means dignity.”

The plant will provide clean power for 800,000 homes and avoid millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, according to Whitmer.

The loan is not yet set in stone. The conditional commitment means that the DOE intends to support the project, but Holtec needs to fulfill “technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions” before the loan is finalized, according to the department.

Two years ago, if you were to ask people living in the area what the future looked like for the plant, it probably wouldn’t have been much. However, if you were to ask that same question now, you’d get a different answer.

“I think it’s a good thing for the community,” said Sylvia Verdonk, a South Haven resident. “I think it’ll bring jobs here again. I have several friends that are looking forward to maybe working there.”

“I think it’s terrific,” added Marty Hodges, another South Haven resident. “Obviously, it’s going to affect the housing and everything in town here … It’s going to be great for South Haven.”

People living in South Haven told News 8 that they are excited about the plants reopening.

“Nuclear power plants are fantastic,” said Barry Skuza, a South Haven resident. “They don’t put any CO2 in the air. I think this is great news to start that thing back up.”

“I think it’s going to be super safe because they want it to work,” Verdonk said. “This is the first one in the country that they’re doing this to, so they’re going to make sure they do it right.”

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