LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday fired a major shot boosting efforts to reopen the now-shuttered Palisades Nuclear Plant along Lake Michigan’s shores by telling the U.S. Department of Energy the state will take steps toward finding state funding and “facilitating” a power purchase agreement with the generating plant if it wins a federal grant.

In a letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm — herself a former Michigan governor — backing a proposal by Holtec International for a Civil Nuclear Credit Program grant, Whitmer said reopening the plant, closed last spring, “is a top priority” for the state as it provides hundreds of jobs, paying on average more than $117,000 a year and producing as much as 800 MW of “reliable, clean power.”

“I will do everything I can to keep this plant open, protect jobs, increase Michigan’s competitiveness, lower costs and expand clean energy production,” Whitmer said in the letter.

Less than two full months after the nearly five-decade-old Palisades closed, Holtec in July proposed a plan to remove radioactive materials. That proposal was controversial because it called for using Great Lakes barges.  

Whitmer had said little about nuclear energy in the state in the early days of her administration and as it worked on a net-zero-emissions plan. Shortly before the plant’s closing, Whitmer expressed support for seeking federal aid to keep it open.

While nuclear energy is a controversial topic among environmentalists, keeping the plant open was cited by many as critical to the state’s goal of reach net zero before 2050.

The plant was closed on May 20, 11 days before its May 31 decommissioning date, when its fuel supply ran out and a PPA the plant had with CMS Energy ended. Holtec took possession of Palisades from Entergy this past June.

With Palisades closed there are currently two nuclear plants operating in Michigan: the Cook plant, operated by American Electric Power subsidiary Indiana Michigan Power, and Fermi 2, operated by DTE Energy.

Holtec CEO Kris Singh said Whitmer’s support has been “instrumental” in the company’s efforts to win the federal grant to reopen Palisades.

Whitmer said that while the state and company wait for an answer from DOE, the state will “continue to efforts to diversify economic opportunities in Southwest Michigan through the Michigan Department of Treasury’s Energy Transition Impact Project,” as well as other economic development programs.