Michigan House Energy Committee hears bipartisan SMR, workforce package; no votes on bills

Lansing — The Michigan House Committee on Energy heard hours of testimony on a bipartisan legislative package, House Bills 4124 through 4129, intended to define small modular reactors (SMRs), create tax and production credits for advanced nuclear projects, and fund workforce training and retention programs — but the committee did not take a formal vote on the bills during the Jan. 30 session.

Chair Pauline Wenzel, who introduced the package to the committee, said the bills are meant to position Michigan as a leader in next‑generation nuclear technologies. “This package is necessary because simply having existing plants in operation won't secure our continued leadership in this quickly developing field,” Wenzel said. She described the proposal as combining incentives with workforce measures to “reward investment, innovation, and building a workforce of the future.”

The bills were discussed after the committee completed procedural business: the panel unanimously adopted a proposed set of committee rules on a roll call vote (13–0) after Representative David Preston moved adoption, and later set Tuesday at 9 a.m. in Room 519 as the regular meeting time by a separate unanimous vote after Representative David Martin moved the motion.

Why it matters: supporters told the committee the package aims to attract manufacturing, research and construction related to SMRs, retain graduates of Michigan colleges in nuclear careers, and preserve existing nuclear capacity that supplies large amounts of carbon‑free baseload power. Testimony emphasized potential job growth, grid reliability and alignment with…