Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) last week signed a bill that includes $150 million more in state funding to help restart the Palisades Nuclear Plant.
The new tranche of funding, passed as part of a supplement to the state’s 2024 budget, brings Michigan’s total aid package for the plant to $300 million. Lansing approved another $150 million in July 2023.
The bill signed Wednesday was sent to Whitmer on July 15. The state’s House and Senate gave their final approval on June 27. The omnibus budget bill was introduced March 7. Whitmer sought the additional funds as part of a supplemental spending request released in February.
Holtec International, Jupiter, Fla., bought Palisades from Entergy in 2022 for decommission. However, the state and local governments advocated for the plant’s restart and Holtec is attempting to oblige by turning Palisades back on with a $1.5 billion Department of Energy loan that was conditionally approved in March. The state funding is contingent on final approval of the federal loan.
Palisades’ license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which expires in 2031, does not currently permit the license holder to operate the plant. For that, Holtec needs a series of approvals from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The company “has submitted all of the regulatory filings that we need to do [and] we expect to reach a decision on those filings in about May of next year,” NRC Chair Christopher Hanson told the House Energy and Commerce energy, climate and grid security subcommittee last week in a hearing.
Holtec has said it can power Palisades back up by September 2025.
NRC staff are also reviewing the environmental effects of a Palisades restart. Staff last week said they would publish a draft environmental assessment about the restart “as soon as practicable” after Monday, when a public comment period about the scope of the assessment was scheduled to end.
