The Duck Curve#michigan
Holtec pauses Palisades fuel loading after one fuel assembly tilted
Holtec Nuclear Corporation said on September 21, 2026 that fuel loading at its Palisades plant in Covert Township, Michigan remains paused after one fuel assembly tilted from its upright position after it had been placed and the fuel-handling machine grapple had been disengaged; the NRC was notified, a root cause evaluation has begun, and Holtec is preparing a license amendment request for the retrieval method. NRC spokesperson Viktoria Mitlyng told The National there was no radiological release and no workers or the public were affected.
Holtec begins loading fuel into the Palisades reactor
Holtec announced on August 31, 2026 that fuel loading has begun at the Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township, Michigan: a core of 204 new and partially used assemblies designed, per the company, to support an 805-MW electric output (ANS Nuclear Newswire describes the unit as 777 MWe; neither figure is labeled gross or net). Holtec says Palisades is advancing toward becoming the first US commercial nuclear plant to return to service after entering decommissioning; the NRC reauthorized power operations by letter dated July 24, 2025.
Ann Arbor's city utility installs solar and batteries at no upfront cost
The Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility, a voter-created municipal utility that supplements rather than replaces DTE, is installing city-owned rooftop solar and battery systems on homes in the Bryant neighborhood at no upfront cost, with plans to reach about 100 homes before the pilot concludes in 2026 and to begin citywide expansion in 2027. Participants pay roughly $600 a year and the city estimates $700 to $1,000 in annual utility-bill savings; one enrolled household rode out a two-day heat-wave outage in July 2026 on its battery.
