Congressman Bill Huizenga has joined a group of colleagues to sign a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm asking for a swift review of a request by Holtec International for a loan to restart the Palisades nuclear power plant.
Holtec is seeking a roughly $1 billion loan to fire up the currently shuttered plant in Van Buren County.
Huizenga tells us as the nation looks toward its energy future, efforts like the restarting of Palisades make sense.
“The real question is what kind of effort is there going on in getting some of these plants restarted because this may actually make more sense than trying to site a completely new facility,” Huizenga said. “There’s infrastructure that’s in place, whether it’s the security side, whether it’s the overhead lines that are going to be bringing electricity out of there.”
The letter says, “Repowering Palisades could significantly grow the region’s economy, strengthen our domestic energy security, and return safe, reliable, and carbon-free generation back to the electrical grid.”
Joining Huizenga in signing the letter were seven colleagues from Michigan and one from New Jersey.
Holtec is hoping to learn if its loan has been approved in early 2024.
