State Representative Joey Andrews, economic development officials, and local leaders are continuing to push for the Palisades nuclear power plant to be reopened. Rep. Andrews convened what he termed a “repowering roundtable” discussion at the plant Monday.
Previewing the meeting, Rep. Andrews said:
“In a time when weather disasters are becoming more frequent and our energy grid is, at best, unreliable, we must do everything we can to ensure that Michiganders have access to safe, dependable energy resources,” Andrews said. “I’m looking forward to hosting the Palisades repowering roundtable and facility tour, where we’ll hear from industry leaders, community partners and labor leaders about the power plant’s potential future impacts on the economy and job creation within the 38th House District and Michigan as a whole.”
Those in attendance Monday were Berrien County Commissioner Chokwe Pitchford, South Haven City Manager Kate Hosier, Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber of Commerce president Arthur Havlicek, along with several area labor union leaders.
“I just want to point out how unifying this issue has been for our community… in both business and labor,” said Andrews. “The nuclear plant here represents hundreds of jobs, plus an extra 1,000-plus jobs during refueling and outages.”
“When businesses look to invest anywhere in any community or any state, the reliability of the grid is one of their chief concerns because that affects their ability to do business,” Havlicek said. “On behalf of our members, we are fully supportive of bringing this plant online.”
Palisades owner Holtec International has applied for funding to restart the plant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has expressed support and has said in letters she will do whatever is necessary to bring the facility in Van Buren County back online.
One big issue facing Palisades is the money required to restart the plant, with Holtec being around $300 million short of what is needed. Rep. Andrews says there is a chance the funding could be included in the state budget, which is currently under negotiation in Lansing.
