New energy secretary confirmed to guide Hanford cleanup, PNNL research

The former governor of Michigan was confirmed as the nation’s energy secretary Thursday.

The vote in support of Jennifer Granholm was 64 to 35, with 14 Senate Republicans joining all Senate Democrats and independents to approve her nomination.

Granholm said during her January confirmation hearing that cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation near Richland in Eastern Washington is “urgent.”

And she committed to requesting larger environmental cleanup budgets than those of the Trump administration, under questioning by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

She told Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., that Hanford cleanup is a complex project and steps need to be taken every year to address waste issues there. But progress is being made, she said.

Granholm also said she was excited about a $75 million national grid energy storage and research and development that should be operating at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland at least by early 2023, if funding is made available.

Granholm, 62, served as governor of Michigan from 2003 to 2011 and for four years before that she was the state’s attorney general. Other experience includes working as a federal prosecutor.

The University of California Berkeley School of Law lists her as a “distinguished professor.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 12:29 PM.