MAY 28, 2025

Good morning!

In this week's edition of Cipher:

• Cat Clifford looks at efforts to restart a nuclear power plant in the United States for the first time.
• A Voices author delves into the central role utilities play in the energy transition in the Global South.
• Amena Saiyid looks at data suggesting there could be a lag in copper supply over the next ten years.

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Illustration by Nadya Nickels.

New horizons for nuclear power on the banks of Lake Michigan

BY: CAT CLIFFORD

Eight years ago, the Palisades nuclear plant in Covert, Michigan was slated for closure. But today, it’s humming with activity.

In an industry that has been stagnant for years, Palisades is getting a second act. Instead of systematically taking it apart as originally planned, hundreds of workers are bringing the plant back to life.

It’s a sign of new investment and interest taking hold in the nuclear industry.

“It went from me being able to park in the front row of the parking lot to, you get there now and there’s shuttle busses moving people,” said Patrick O’Brien, director of government affairs and communications at Holtec International, which bought the plant in 2018 to decommission it but reversed course three years ago.

If Holtec succeeds in restarting Palisades, it would be the first time in the nation’s history that a nuclear power reactor slated for decommissioning is turned back on.

The decision came as Michigan was shutting coal-fired power generation sources, sentiment about nuclear energy was rebounding and demand for clean energy was increasing.

“Just because something’s never been done before does not mean it cannot be done in Michigan,” Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a letter to then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm at the time.

Holtec has a $1.5 billion line of credit from the Loan Program Office (LPO) at the U.S. Energy Department, $300 million from the state of Michigan and will invest between $400 and $500 million of its own, O’Brien said, bringing the total cost north of $2 billion.

President Trump signed a series of executive orders on Friday aimed at promoting the nuclear industry. One of the orders prioritizes federal loans and loan guarantees for nuclear projects, including for “restarting closed nuclear power plants.”

Turning a nuclear reactor back on does not happen with the flip of a switch, however, and every plant that gets a reboot will do it differently.

When a nuclear reactor is idled, over time some pieces will begin to corrode and degrade, said Doug True, chief nuclear officer of technical and regulatory services at the Nuclear Energy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based industry group. Getting a plant ready to turn back on requires going through a “very systematic process” of reviewing every component, “literally” walking the length of every pipe and wire and examining every motor, he said.

Holtec is forging new ground with technologies and processes it has designed just for Palisades. Some components of the plant are being refurbished on site; others are being transported on large flat-bed trucks to machining shops elsewhere, one indication of the complicated logistics involved.

It's a long process, but it’s moving along. “We’re running under budget and on schedule — actually on an early schedule,” said Kelly Trice, president of Holtec.

Holtec started as a nuclear waste disposal firm in the 1980s, but became interested in buying and decommissioning old nuclear reactors in the late 2010s so it could use those sites to build small modular reactors, or SMRs, which produce less electricity than a traditional nuclear plant but are, theoretically, faster and cheaper to build. The licensing process for a new reactor is easier on sites of previous nuclear reactors, Trice said.

Holtec is still building two small modular reactors on the Palisades site and hopes to have them operating commercially in 2030.

Read this article and share it on Cipher’s website.

Lunchtime Reads and Hot Takes

Trump administration plans to end greenhouse gas limits on power plants. — The Washington Post
Amena’s take: Given President Trump's antipathy to climate solutions, this action is unsurprising. The rationale is hard to understand, though, since the power sector did contribute nearly 25% of emissions in 2022.

Trump Orders Faster Build-Out of Nuclear Power Plants — The New York Times
Cat’s take: The orders range from directing the U.S. Energy Department to prioritize construction on ten new large nuclear reactors by 2030 to directing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to undertake a “wholesale revision."

PetroStates and ElectroStates in a World Divided by Fossil Fuels and Clean Energy — The National Interest
Bill’s take: China’s growing lead in renewable energy is reshaping geopolitics, as it entrenches control of efficient new energy sources while undermining demand for traditional fossil fuels.

A Michigan coal plant was about to close. Trump ordered it to stay open. — Canary Media
Amena’s take: Energy Secretary Chris Wright's order will keep the power plant open past its May 31 closing date regardless of the cost to Michigan ratepayers or the utility Consumers Energy.

BYD’s Brazil expansion hits roadblocks as other carmakers call for tariffs — Nikkei Asia (subscription)
Bill’s take: China’s electric vehicle giant BYD is making rapid inroads into large developing markets such as Brazil and Indonesia. How deftly the company manages to build factories in these places will be key.

Global Forest Loss Hit a Record Last Year as Fires Raged — The New York Times
Cat’s take: Wildfires are responsible for an increasingly large percentage of deforestation and emitted four times the greenhouse gas emissions that air travel did in 2023. Mind boggling. And devastating.

Trump and Republicans are targeting blue states’ climate policies — The Washington Post
Amena’s take: The Republican-dominated Senate voted to block California's rule banning sales of gasoline-powered cars in the state starting in 2035 after passage in the House. President Trump is expected to sign the measure, which deals a blow to states' efforts to mitigate the climate impacts from fossil fuels.

Chris Wright tells Republicans to keep loan office funding — E&E News (subscription)
Cat’s take: “It is really the most efficient tool we have in the department to help emerging energy technologies,” the energy secretary said. Wright is correct on the importance of the LPO for nuclear. Will lawmakers hear him?

House OKs megabill after major energy, environment changes — E&E News (subscription)
Amena’s take: Nearly two dozen House Republicans claiming to value cleantech tax credits voted in favor of phasing them out much earlier, jeopardizing jobs. Will the same story play out in the Senate?

More of what we're reading:

• For the First Time, China Invests More in Wind and Solar Than Coal Overseas — Inside Climate News

• Trump hates wind power. But these Texas Republicans are embracing it — The Guardian

• Indonesia backtracks on coal phase-out in new 2034 power supply plan — The Straits Times

  
  

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Utilities hold the keys to the energy transition in the Global South 

Illustration by Nadya Nickels.

BY: JUSTIN LOCKE

Locke is a climate and energy executive who most recently was the managing director of the Global South portfolio at RMI. You can reach him at justin.t.locke@gmail.com.

The region of the world known as the Global South, encompassing parts of Latin America, Asia, Africa and Oceana, will see its electricity consumption soar over the next 25 years, growing by a forecasted 8,700 terawatts, equivalent to nearly one third of the world’s current consumption, due to population growth, urbanization and economic development. 
 
This anticipated growth in consumption will put these countries on track to make up 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to The World Bank.
 
Tackling the huge climate impact of the Global South’s growth will require a singular focus on an often-overlooked segment of its energy infrastructure: utilities.
 
They may not be shiny and exciting pieces of the energy transition, but as stewards of the world’s power grids, utilities play a central role in bringing more clean energy online, allowing for both higher production and lower carbon emissions. In the Global South, they are especially crucial.

Read the full article and share it on Cipher’s website.

Global copper supplies won’t keep up with demand: report

Source: International Energy Agency, Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 • Projected copper supplies are from existing and announced projects.

BY: AMENA H. SAIYID

Global copper supplies will fall short of what the world needs to keep up with electricity demand growth over the next decade, according to the International Energy Agency’s latest outlook for critical minerals.

Copper is a ubiquitous material in electronics of all types, including for clean energy.

Demand for the metal is surging because it is a key component in electric vehicles, renewable energy technologies like wind turbines and solar panels and electricity transmission lines. The rapid expansion of the electricity grid network in China was the single largest driver of demand growth for copper over the past two years, according to IEA.

“Despite strong copper demand from electrification ... the current mine project pipeline points to a potential 30% supply shortfall by 2035 due to declining ore grades, rising capital costs, limited resource discoveries and long lead times,” the report found.

In short, IEA says more — and higher quality — copper reserves must be found and developed. The agency also urges increasing the pace of electronics recycling.

Copper mines on average are larger than mines for other minerals, requiring more time, capital and infrastructure to develop. Copper mining is also lagging because of growing social and environmental opposition, owing to the heavy water usage of the mines, especially in areas prone to water security.

For example, a copper mine in Arizona was delayed for at least five years due to efforts by a Native American tribe to block its development. This week, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case, allowing the project to proceed.

Water shortages and flooding — which are exacerbated by climate change, overdevelopment and overconsumption — pose a serious risk to 7% of global copper supplies by 2030, or nearly two million metric tons, the IEA warned.

Ironically, the region IEA has identified as most at risk from both floods and droughts — Central and South America — is also one that is drawing the most investments: it drew $60 billion in greenfield mining, or exploration of new mines (largely copper mines) in 2024, IEA said.

AND FINALLY...
Chilean solar

Bill Spindle took this photo of a solar array outside the airport in Santiago, Chile in December during his reporting trip to the country.

Each week, we feature a photo that is somehow related to energy, the thing we all need but don’t notice until it’s expensive or gone. Email your ideas and photos to news@ciphernews.com.

Editor’s note: In addition to supporting Cipher, Breakthrough Energy also supports and partners with a range of entities working to tackle climate change, including nonprofits, corporations, startups and research firms. For more information on Cipher’s editorial policy, click here.