The Trump Administration showed its support for restarting the shuttered Palisades nuclear plant with an announcement that it is making the second loan disbursement, worth $56.8 million, to keep the project going.
The money is part of the $1.52 billion loan guarantee that owner-operator Holtec International negotiated from the Biden administration.
Holtec is seeking U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval to make that plant the first in nuclear history to go back into service after it ceased operations. Palisades was shut down and put into its decommissioning phase in May 2022 by its previous owner, Entergy.
Holtec was brought in to do the decommissioning, but later switched gears by acquiring the mothballed plant and coming up with a plan to resume service there. It is hopeful for a fall 2025 restart, but the schedule depends upon the pace of the NRC’s review.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the project fits into President Trump’s agenda for a broader portfolio of electricity projects.
“Unleashing American energy dominance will require leveraging all energy sources that are affordable, reliable and secure — including nuclear energy,” Secretary Wright said in a Monday statement. “Today’s action is yet another step toward advancing President Trump’s commitment to increase domestic energy production, bolster our security and lower costs for the American people.”
Nick Culp, Holtec Palisades senior manager of government affairs and communications, said the company is “pleased with this week’s announcement and the continued commitment of the U.S. Department of Energy for the Palisades restart, which will return 800 megawatts of safe and reliable baseload energy back to the grid while supporting hundreds of high-paying, highly skilled American jobs.”
“It further underscores the important role that nuclear plays in America’s energy future, not only in meeting our domestic energy needs but in bolstering our energy security and reaffirming our country’s position as the global energy leader,” Mr. Culp said. “We continue to remain on schedule and under budget in our work to bring Palisades back online by the fourth quarter of the year.”
The project is expected to support or retain up to 600 high-paying jobs in southwest Michigan, according to the DOE, which also said many of those workers had previously been employed at that plant for 20 or more years.
There had been some speculation about the nuclear plant’s fate during the early days of Trump’s presidency, when a freeze was placed on Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act spending and other federal programs. The DOE money for the Palisades loan came from that act.
If nothing else, observers said, there was some confusion about the project’s future.
That apparently has been cleared up with this second loan disbursement. The overall $1.52 billion federal loan guarantee was finalized in September while Joe Biden was still in the White House.
The Inflation Reduction Act has been called America’s largest single investment in fighting climate change. Trump opposes it because, as a matter of policy, he doesn’t want to spend money on climate change projects.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuclear industry’s chief lobbyist group on Capitol Hill, has in recent years rebranded the nuclear industry as a leading strategy for reducing climate-altering carbon dioxide emissions.
Palisades is a nuclear plant along the Lake Michigan shoreline, 35 miles west of Kalamazoo, that operated for more than 50 years before it was shut down for economic reasons. Entergy said at the time it had become too expensive.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is among the high-profile Democrats seeking a restart. The project is part of her MI Health Climate Plan, the state’s effort to help address climate change.
First Published March 19, 2025, 8:12 p.m.
