The Sconi

America’s energy grids are strained as electricity demand continues to grow exponentially, and zero-emission goals are diminishing so-called “baseload” generating capacity. The response on the other side of Lake Michigan: a notable atomic about-face that may hold lessons for Wisconsin.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in April 2022 announced that she supported keeping open the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, which was due to close the following month. The plant’s operator turned the reactor off shortly thereafter and, by summer of 2022, was planning to tear the plant down. The governor’s switch, however, led the plant’s new owner, Holtec Decommissioning International, to begin seeking federal aid to restart the reactor and to find a buyer for the plant’s electricity — a pair of energy wholesale cooperatives.

The governor’s change of heart was notable, said research analyst Josh Antonini of the Midland, Mich.-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “Whitmer has advocated for some of the country’s most radical environmental policies, yet even she recognizes the importance of nuclear power,” Antonini said.

As a step toward reopening the plant, Holtec applied for a federal Civil Nuclear Credit in 2022. The credit was then denied by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), overseen by former two-term Democratic Michigan Governor and current U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

“We fully understood that what we were attempting to do, re-starting a shuttered nuclear plant, would be both a challenge and a first for the nuclear industry,” Holtec spokesman Patrick O’Brien said.

This past March, however, the Biden Administration approved a $1.5 billion loan to recommission Palisades. Whitmer — whose about-face encountered opposition from environmentalists and members of her own Democratic Party — applauded the move.

“Once complete, Palisades will become the first successfully restarted nuclear power plant in American history, protecting 600 union jobs at the plant, 1,100 in the community, and access to clean, reliable power for 800,000 homes,” Whitmer said in a statement.

Michigan Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt celebrated the news with reservations about Whitmer’s green agenda. “I am happy to see the governor and her peers acknowledging the need to reopen this vital nuclear power plant as we all brace for predictable shortfalls from last year’s extreme energy agenda forced through by Democrats,” Nesbitt stated.

Whitmer appears to have embraced nuclear energy to compensate for wind and solar energy shortfalls and her own zero-emission policies and efforts to permanently close Line 5 pipelines spanning Lake Michigan between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

The closed nuclear plant produced about 6.5% of Michigan’s electricity and about 15% of its zero-emissions energy according to Jason Hayes, director of energy and environmental policy at Mackinac Center.

“Restarting Palisades means returning reliable zero-carbon baseload electricity capable of helping Michigan meet its clean energy needs year-round without interruption,” said American Nuclear Society CEO Craig Piercy.

The Palisades recommissioning still faces opposition during regulatory processes but is one bright spot in Michigan's renewable energy future after Whitmer signed legislation mandating 100% alternative energy sources by 2040. Mackinac Center estimated these mandates will increase household energy costs by $1,000 per year and require significant taxpayer subsidies.

“Michigan’s energy policy sets up failure,” according to Hayes and Antonini. “Net-zero mandates strain reliable resources; blackouts are inevitable given these poor decisions.”

Mackinac Center analysts suggest Wisconsin might benefit from following Michigan's lead on nuclear energy. According to their analysis "Shorting the Great Lakes Grid," Midwestern states’ rush to decarbonize may present dire consequences including potential increases in household electricity bills due reliance on wind and solar power alone.

Wisconsin's Executive Order 38 pledges that all electricity consumed by 2050 will derive from renewables without mention of nuclear power despite Point Beach Nuclear Plant supplying only 16% of state electric power as per recent figures from Wisconsin's Public Service Commission.

However renewed interest in nuclear power exists with Dairyland Power Cooperative announcing plans in May 2022 for pursuing small modular reactors (SMRs) potentially supplied by Oregon-based NuScale Power Corp., whose design received certification from U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission last year.

"SMRs are no longer an abstract concept," then-Assistant U.S Secretary Of Energy For Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff stated earlier this year highlighting their readiness for deployment amid lingering concerns over traditional fission plants' reputation.

"Small modular reactors are promising developments but traditional fission plants often get worse reputations than deserved," Antonini wrote citing WHO reports indicating no acute radiation injuries or deaths among workers/public post-Fukushima incident while pointing out France's successful long-term use without major disasters providing clean reliable cheap power making it world's largest net exporter electricity.

Bruce Edward Walker has over four decades experience across various fields including literary reference automotive entertainment science free-market think tank research writing publishing any reproduction Badger Institute articles photographs requires prior written permission request contact Badger Institute President Mike Nichols mike@badgerinstitute.org or call262-389-8239