Weekly Column: Another Step Forward for the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant
Washington,
March 27, 2025
Last week, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright announced the second loan disbursement for the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant. This second loan installment totaled $56,787,300.
It was great to see President Trump and Secretary Wright actively advance Southwest Michigan’s role in unleashing American energy production and strengthening our national energy security. Disbursing this funding is another key step towards providing 800MW of safe, carbon-free, and reliable energy. The plant’s owner, Holtec International, is also planning to build two industry-first small modular reactor (SMR) units at the site which have the innovative potential to generate even more reliable carbon-free energy and set the tone for our nation’s energy future. The project is expected to bring hundreds of highly skilled, good-paying jobs to Southwest Michigan and, according to local reports, is on schedule to be operational later this year or early next year. I am proud to have led the charge in Congress to support Holtec’s historic repowering of Palisades. This effort is on track to become the first-ever recommissioning of a nuclear power plant in the United States. In December 2023, I led a bipartisan letter to the Department of Energy requesting a timely and responsible review of the Department of Energy loan application to repower Palisades. In September 2024, the Department of Energy officially closed on the loan commitment of up to $1.52 billion to repower Palisades. As your Representative in Congress, lowering your energy costs and making daily life more affordable is a top priority of mine. I have consistently voted for legislation like the Lower Energy Costs Act to unleash American energy independence and significantly reduce costs for individuals, families, and small businesses across Michigan by increasing domestic energy production. Not only is American energy cleaner than what other countries are able to produce, developing our domestic resources will also put downward pressure on energy prices and create good-paying American jobs. Repowering Palisades checks all these critical boxes, and I look forward to watching this project continue to progress. If you need assistance navigating a federal agency, please contact my office at Huizenga.House.Gov. |
