Wolverine Power Cooperative Announced as Winner of Inflation Reduction Act Investment

LANSING, MI - On September 5, 2024, Governor Gretchen Whitmer applauded the Biden-Harris Administration’s U.S. Department of Agriculture's announcement of a grant to Wolverine Power Cooperative (Wolverine). The grant made available through the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), will reduce the cost of clean and reliable wholesale electricity generated by the Palisades Nuclear Plant, supporting more than 300,000 homes, businesses, and farms across Michigan.

“The Biden-Harris administration’s investment in Wolverine Power Cooperative and their ongoing commitment to reopen the Palisades Nuclear Plant will drive down energy costs, help us make more clean, reliable energy right here in Michigan, and set us up to compete and win transformational economic development projects in the future,” said Governor Whitmer. “Because of our effective collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Holtec, and Wolverine, this project has the potential to pass these savings and provide clean, reliable electricity for more than 300,000 homes, businesses, and farms in rural communities across the state. This is another critical step in our collaboration with the administration to restart the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant, protecting 600 union jobs and supporting 1,100 more in the community. We are showing the world that Michigan will continue to lead the future of clean energy. Let’s keep getting it done.” 

In May, the State of Michigan wrote Secretary Vilsack of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support the grant application of Wolverine under the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service.The New ERA program helps rural Americans transition to clean, affordable, and reliable energy and in doing so, reduces air and water pollution, improves health outcomes, and lowers energy costs for people in rural communities. The program is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and represents the largest investment in rural electrification since President Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936.

Wolverine is a Michigan-based generation and transmission cooperative that provides wholesale electricity to its member distribution cooperatives and serves retail customers throughout predominantly rural and agricultural portions of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. 

Today’s announcement is another step in the state’s collaborative efforts to restoring the generation of electricity at Palisades Nuclear Plant, protecting more than 600 good-paying local jobs, shoring up Michigan’s energy needs, and supporting the goals of MI Healthy Climate Plan, the state’s climate action roadmap. The New ERA grant will drive economic growth and provide rural Michiganders and businesses with reliable, affordable, and carbon-free electricity for decades to come.

Saving Palisades 

Palisades is a nuclear plant in Southwest Michigan that employed 600 workers making an average of $117,845 while the plant was in operation, supported over 1,100 local jobs, generated $363 million in regional economic development every year, and produced more than 800 megawatts of reliable, clean power-enough to power 800,000 homes. The Palisades plant was shut down on May 20, 2022. The plant was sold to Holtec in June 2022.

In March 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a decision to issue a conditional commitment for an up to $1.52 billion loan to restart the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant, supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Governor and the Michigan legislature also secured $300 million to support critical reopening activities including infrastructure upgrades, fuel purchases, workforce development, and more.

Biden-Harris Administration’s Clean Energy Investments in Michigan 

President Biden’s IRA made the single largest investment in climate and clean energy in American history. Nearly two years after passage, the IRA has already led to 62 new clean energy projects in Michigan ranging from solar and electric vehicles to hydrogen and battery storage, the most across any state in the nation. These projects have spurred more than $26 billion in investment, creating or moving forward more than 21,000 jobs.

President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is helping Michigan fix the damn roads, bridges, pipes, internet, and so much more. The BIL’s clean energy investments are modernizing our power grid, investing in energy efficiency improvements, and helping deploy more clean energy-including nuclear energy.  

Michigan’s Clean Energy Leadership

In November 2023, the Governor signed historic clean energy laws, making Michigan a national leader in the fight against climate change. The bills will lower household utility costs, create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, and protect Michigan’s precious air, water, and public health. 

Michigan leads the Midwest in the number of clean energy workers, with nearly 124,000 clean energy workers. The 2023 Clean Jobs America Report stated that clean energy businesses in Michigan added more than 5,400 workers in 2022, growing almost twice the rate of the overall economy.