Letter to The Honorable Jennifer Granholm, Secretary U.S. Department of Energy - Whitmer Announces Plan with Holtec to Reopen Palisades Plant

Letter

Dear Secretary Granholm,

Keeping Palisades open is a top priority for the State of Michigan. In my previous letter, I said it would take creative and optimistic thinking to get it done. Thankfully, after months of hard work and collaboration, I am proud to support Holtec International's application for the Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) and Loan Program Office for Palisades Nuclear Facility.

With your support, Holtec plans to repower and reopen the Palisades, a union plant in Southwest Michigan that employs 600 workers making an average of $117,845, supports over 1,100 regional jobs, generates $363 million in annual regional economic development, and produces more than 800 megawatts of reliable, clean power. Keeping Palisades open is critical for Michigan's competitiveness and future economic development opportunities.

As you stated in your reply to me in May, the CNC program is a "critical investment" that will "help avoid premature retirements of reactors across the country due to financial hardship, preserve thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs to sustain local economies, and protect our supply of carbon-free electricity generation." I want to see those impacts here in Michigan, and I am ready to do my part to make that happen.

We were grateful to see the program rolled out and designed in such a way that would afford Holtec a chance to compete for funding. I want to underscore that Michigan remains committed to supporting Holtec's efforts at Palisades. We are ready to do our part should they receive funding through the CNC program, including identifying state funding and facilitating a power purchase agreement.

I will do everything I can to keep this plant open, protect jobs, increase Michigan's competitiveness, lower costs, and expand clean energy production. We know the path ahead is not easy, but we are not going to let that stop us from fighting for economic opportunity for Southwest Michigan and reliable, clean energy for the state. Just because something's never been done before does not mean it cannot be done in Michigan. While we await a final decision from the Department of Energy (DOE), the State will continue efforts to diversify economic opportunities in Southwest Michigan through the Michigan Department of Treasury's Energy Transition Impact Project (ETIP) and economic development efforts.

Today, because of the actions of Holtec, we have a path forward to save Palisades, secure 1,700 jobs, and help fight climate change by generating more clean energy. I know this process has not been easy for the companies involved or the DOE team. I want to extend my gratitude to the staff at the DOE for their efforts on the CNC program and this application.

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