Connect with us

Published

6 months ago

on

The Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Covert, Mich.

John Madill | The Herald-Palladium | AP

The Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan has closed a $1.5 billion loan to support the first reactor restart in U.S. history, the Department of Energy announced Monday.

Palisades’ owner, Holtec International, hopes to restart the plant in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to approval by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Holtec is a privately held nuclear technology company headquartered in Jupiter, Florida.

“All necessary funding has now been secured,” said Nick Culp, a Holtec spokesperson. The company will use the funds for inspections, testing, restoration, rebuilding, replacement of equipment at the plant, according to the Department of Energy.

Holtec has completed all major licensing submittals to the NRC, Culp said. Company executives expect to receive a response from the NRC sometime in 2025, he said.

The restart of the reactor at Palisades would mark a milestone for the nuclear industry after a decadelong wave of reactor shutdowns in the U.S. Palisades ceased operations in 2022 as nuclear efforts struggled to compete with cheap and abundant natural gas.

Demand for nuclear power is growing as the U.S. seeks carbon-free energy to meet rising electricity demand while meeting its climate goals. The planned restart at Palisades blazed a path for Constellation Energy‘s recent decision to bring Three Mile Island back online by 2028.

“We’ve been using all of the tools in our tool belt to support the nuclear energy sector, keep reactors online, and to bring them back, and to finance advanced reactor deployment as well,” David Turk, deputy secretary at the Department of Energy, told reporters on a call ahead of the announcement.

Electricity demand is expected to increase about 15% over the next few years as artificial intelligence drives the need for data centers and domestic manufacturing continues expanding, Turk said.

Microsoft has agreed to purchase power from Three Mile Island to help power its data centers. In the case of Palisades, the power is spoken for by Wolverine Power Cooperative, a nonprofit that provides electricity to rural communities in Michigan.

Palisades will support 600 jobs in Covert Township near Lake Michigan and provide enough power for 800,000 homes, Turk said.

Holtec plans to nearly double the capacity of Palisades in the 2030s by building new designs called small modular reactors at the site. These smaller reactors, which are prefabricated in several pieces, promise to speed deployment of nuclear by reducing costs and making plants simpler to operate.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Environment

Greenpeace ordered to pay more than $660 million over Dakota Access Pipeline protests

Published

2 hours ago

on

March 20, 2025

By

Greenpeace ordered to pay more than 0 million over Dakota Access Pipeline protests

The Greenpeace logo on the green ecological awareness stand of the association in Lyon, France, on Oct. 23, 2024.

Elsa Biyick | Afp | Getty Images

A jury on Wednesday ordered environmental campaign group Greenpeace to pay more than $660 million in damages to Texas-based oil company Energy Transfer, the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

A nine-person jury in Mandan, North Dakota, reached a verdict after roughly two days of deliberations. The outcome found Greenpeace liable for hundreds of millions of dollars over actions taken to prevent the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline nearly a decade ago.

It marks an extraordinary legal blow for Greenpeace, which had previously warned that it could be forced into bankruptcy because of the case. The environmental advocacy group said it intends to appeal the verdict.

“This case should alarm everyone, no matter their political inclinations,” Greenpeace U.S. interim executive director Sushma Raman said in a statement published Wednesday.

“It’s part of a renewed push by corporations to weaponise our courts to silence dissent. We should all be concerned about the future of the First Amendment, and lawsuits like this aimed at destroying our rights to peaceful protest and free speech,” Raman said.

Greenpeace has described Energy Transfer’s case as a clear-cut example of SLAPPs, referring to a lawsuit designed to bury activist groups in legal fees and ultimately silence dissent. SLAPP is an acronym for “strategic lawsuit against public participation.”

Energy Transfer said the jury verdict was a “win” for “Americans who understand the difference between the right to free speech and breaking the law,” according to The Associated Press, citing a statement from the company.

“While we are pleased that Greenpeace has been held accountable for their actions against us, this win is really for the people of Mandan and throughout North Dakota who had to live through the daily harassment and disruptions caused by the protesters who were funded and trained by Greenpeace,” the company added.

A spokesperson for Energy Transfer was not immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC on Thursday morning.

Continue Reading

Environment

Elon’s missing billions, Tesla terrorism, bots rig surveys, and a Nissan battery deal

Published

4 hours ago

on

March 20, 2025

By

Elon's missing billions, Tesla terrorism, bots rig surveys, and a Nissan battery deal

Is Elon Musk using the missing $1.4B to fund anti-Tesla protests as part of a massive false flag operation that will give him control of both the police and the courts? There’s absolutely ZERO evidence to support that idea (plus: I just made it up), but it’s 2025 and that means anything goes on today’s bats**t episode of Quick Charge!

If there’s one thing narcissists love it’s playing victim, and the guy who asked everyone at Trump’s inauguration if they’s seen Kyle and spent the last decade stacking billions by failing to deliver on a mission to mars, an all-electric roadster, an underground super-speedway, and a self-driving car seems to think it’s someone else’s fault that people don’t like him. We talk through the state of that debacle along with news from two credible car companies, and I predict Volvo will have the first mainstream L3 car in America – enjoy!

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

Trump’s US Commerce Secretary, who owns Tesla stocks, publicly recommends to buy TSLA

Published

4 hours ago

on

March 20, 2025

By

Trump's US Commerce Secretary, who owns Tesla stocks, publicly recommends to buy TSLA

Tesla CEO Elon Musk with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick

Trump’s US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, who indirectly owns Tesla (TSLA) stocks through his firm, has publicly recommended buying Tesla stocks today.

This is likely the first time that a sitting US Commerce Secretary publicly recommends to buy a specific stock.

The circumstances in which this first is happening are genuinely astonishing.

Lutnick is known for his multi-billion-dollar stake and long-time leadership at the investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

Starting in 2022, Cantor Fitzgerald began to buy Tesla stocks and significantly increased its investment in the automaker in 2024 during a bull run:

After Trump won the election last year with the help of a $250 million political donation from Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO started to recommend Lutnick for the significant role of Secretary of the Treasury. He tweeted:

My view fwiw is that Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas Howard Lutnick will actually enact change. Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change one way or another,”

Trump ended up going for Bessent, but Lutnick still managed to land the role of Secretary of Commerce – with the help of Musk’s push.

After being nominated by Trump, Lutnick said that he would be divesting from his holdings, which are mainly linked to Cantor Fitzgerald, within 90 days.

The 90 days are not up yet, but there is no update on whether he has started divesting yet.

Today, he went on Fox News and recommended viewers buy Tesla stocks:

“I think if you want to learn something on this show tonight, buy Tesla. It’s unbelievable that this guy’s stock is this cheap. It’ll never be this cheap again,”

Here’s the video:

The blatant stock pump comes after Tesla’s stock lost more than 40% of its value so far this year.

Musk uses 238 million Tesla shares worth over $55 billion as collateral for personal loans. If Tesla’s stock goes too low, he could potentially be forced to sell his shares to cover the debt.

Furthermore, on the analyst side, Cantor Fitzgerald just upgraded Tesla’s stock to a buy earlier this week – raising their price target to $425 a share. Tesla’s stock closed at $235.86 today.

Howard Lutnick’s son, Brandon, is now in charge of Cantor Fitzgerald as Chairman.

Here’s a summary of Cantor Fitzgerald’s Tesla holdings:

  • Early 2022: The firm held a very small position (only ~8,400 Tesla shares in Q1 2022)​ but rapidly increased to about 297,000 shares by Q3 2022 (worth ~$79 million at the time)​. This large buy-in during mid-2022 marked a significant ramp-up in their Tesla exposure.
  • Late 2022: By the end of 2022, Cantor dramatically cut back its stake – holding roughly 72,000 shares in Q4 2022​. This reduction from nearly 300k shares the prior quarter coincided with a steep drop in Tesla’s stock price in late 2022 (shares fell by roughly 50% during Q4 2022).
  • 2023: Throughout 2023, Cantor Fitzgerald kept a modest Tesla position, fluctuating in the tens of thousands of shares. For example, they reported ~44,000 shares in Q1 2023, increased to 91,000 by Q2 2023, then adjusted to 56,000 in Q3 2023 and 83,000 by Q4 2023​.
  • These moves suggest active trading around Tesla’s short-term moves, with no huge long-only stake during 2023. Notably, it appears Cantor completely exited Tesla in early 2024 – Tesla was not listed in their Q1–Q2 2024 13F filings, implying they sold off the remaining shares during that period (when Tesla’s price rallied to local highs).
  • Re-entry in 2024: In the second half of 2024, Cantor Fitzgerald made a bold re-entry into Tesla. Their holdings surged to about 1.2 million shares in Q3 2024 (valued ~$307 million as of September 30, 2024). This coincided with a mid-2024 pullback in Tesla’s stock price, suggesting Cantor bought the dip. By the end of 2024, they trimmed the position down to ~740,000 shares (from 1.2M), likely taking profits after Tesla’s price rallied late in the year​.

Electrek’s Take

I mean, wow. This is something else.

The fact alone that a US secretary would recommend buying a specific stock is despicable, but it’s even more insane when it is the stock behind the fortune of Elon Musk, who has a relationship with Lutnick.

Lutnick’s Cantor invests in Tesla -> Musk invests in Trump -> Trump appoints Lutnick at Musk’s recommendation -> Tesla’s stock crash –> Trump recommends buying Tesla cars –> Lutnicks recommends buying Tesla stocks.

I’m no lawyer so I’m not going to claim whether this is legal or not, but it’s certainly not ethical.

Tesla must be really struggling if that’s what they are doing now: using US officials to promote Tesla’s stocks.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Trending