COVERT, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Holtec International and Wolverine Power Cooperative, a not-for-profit power generation cooperative based in Michigan, announced today that they have entered into a long-term agreement that will pave the way for the restart of the 800-megawatt Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Van Buren County’s Covert Township.
The long-term power purchase agreement, has Wolverine committing to purchase up to two-thirds of the carbon-free power generated by the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant for its Michigan-based member rural electric cooperatives. Wolverine’s non-profit rural electric cooperative project partner, Hoosier Energy, will purchase the balance.
Following Holtec’s acquisition of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in June 2022, after the May 2022 shutdown, the plant is now on track to become the first successfully restarted nuclear power plant in the United States.
In early 2023, Holtec submitted an application with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office for federal loan funding to repower Palisades.
Holtec officials say the repowering of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant will greatly enhance electric reliability by generating consistent and carbon-free energy in Michigan.
They say during operation, 600 workers were employed full-time at Palisades in highly-skilled jobs with an average salary of $117,000. The plant brought an additional 1,000 specialty workers into the local community every 18 months to support scheduled refueling and maintenance.
The Economic Growth Institute at the University of Michigan concluded in an economic assessment recently published in August 2023 that the early closure of Palisades resulted in the loss (direct, indirect, and induced) of 739 jobs and over $259 million in output within Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties.
