Palisades Nuclear Plant: Four years later, a restart is within reach
The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant has become an ongoing project for the state of Michigan. What began as Entergy and Holtec International filing to transfer the plant’s license to Holtec following its planned 2022 shutdown has become a $2B effort to bring economic growth, infrastructure improvements and jobs to the state of Michigan while promoting low-carbon energy and energy security on a national scale.
Per Holtec Nuclear Corp.’s SEC Form S-1 filing, Holtec reported $1.305 billion in capital expenditures specifically attributable to the Palisades restart during 2024 and 2025. The filing also reported $718.4 million in capital expenditures during the first six months of 2026, primarily related to the Palisades restart and its separate SMR-300 program. Initially, Holtec International projected an original restart date in December 2025 but was pushed back to early 2026 due to various delays.
Where are we now?
Since receiving the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) loan guarantee from the federal government in the fall of 2024, the project has hit major milestones but also faced setbacks. After more than two years of extensively reviewing licensing changes, holding public hearings, staffing the plant and conducting inspections, the NRC authorized the restart in July 2025, making Palisades the first U.S. reactor ever to be authorized by the NRC to restart after being decommissioned.
