State Representative Pauline Wendzel has been named the chair of the Michigan House Energy Committee.

Wendzel tells us she’s served in the past as the committee’s vice chair, and now she’s excited to have more of a role guiding the state’s energy policy.

“We have a great tradition in Southwest Michigan, actually, of our representatives serving in the past on the Energy Committee because we’re a little unique down here in Southwest Michigan, where we typically have AEP and not Consumers and DTE like much of the rest of the state, and as many know, we have one nuclear plant and potentially another one getting ready to open back up,” Wendzel said.

Wendzel says she plans to reintroduce legislation that would encourage the development of small modular nuclear reactors at facilities like the Palisades plant.

“It’s really exciting technology that we’re hoping to be the forefront of. We might be the first, and possibly in the world, here in Southwest Michigan to have that technology and get that going, which would be very exciting for us and for all of Michigan.”

Wendzel says she also wants to work on improving the reliability of the state’s electrical grid and reducing energy costs. She believes some of these issues are bipartisan and says she’ll work with the Senate and the governor to pursue those goals.