A company seeking to restart a nuclear power plant in southwest Michigan said Tuesday it has taken a major step forward in signing a power purchase agreement.
Holtec International said its subsidiary Palisades Energy LLC signed the agreement this week with Wolverine Power Cooperative, a nonprofit energy provider serving rural communities in Michigan.
Under the “multi-decade” agreement, Wolverine agreed to purchase two-thirds of Palisades’ electricity generation for its rural electric cooperative members in Michigan. Partner Hoosier Energy, based in Bloomington, Indiana, will purchase the remainder. A Holtec spokesman said he could not elaborate on “decades.” Financial terms have not been disclosed.
if it starts generating electricity again Palisades will be first Nuclear power plants were shut down for this reason.
Holtec purchased the former Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Hidden Township in June 2022 with the stated purpose of dismantling the plant after previous owner Entergy shut it down weeks earlier. Fuel was removed from the reactor core and federal regulators were notified of a “permanent discontinuation of electrical power operations.”
But with support from Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer Along with leaders of the Lake Michigan community, where Palisades has been a major economic player for 50 years, Holtec began a campaign to restore the 800-megawatt power plant.
“We are pleased to enter into this partnership,” Kelly Trice, president of Holtec Nuclear Power and Decommissioning, said in a statement. “The signing of the power purchase agreement is an important milestone in our progress towards reopening the plant.”
Wolverine CEO Eric Baker said restarting the Palisades “provides a practical, long-term solution to our state’s electric reliability and is consistent with Michigan’s ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions.”
Critic Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste expert with an anti-nuclear power group called Beyond Nuclear, called the agreement “crazy” because of the plant’s history of mechanical problems .
Michigan lawmakers included $150 million for reopening in the recently passed $81.7 billion state budget.
Svlook
