The Energy Department Is Offering $4.2 Billion in Loans to Nuclear Projects in Ohio and Pennsylvania

Private investors are already pouring billions into America’s nuclear sector. The Trump administration wants a piece of the credit.

On Monday, the Energy Department unveiled a conditional loan package of up to $4.2 billion to retail electricity and power generation company Vistra Corp. to finance upgrades to nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. 

The loan will fund the uprating—a process that increases electricity generation at existing power facilities by improving equipment—of three of Vistra's nuclear power plants. This includes a 1.3-gigawatt nuclear reactor in Perry, Ohio, a 900-megawatt nuclear reactor in Oak Harbor, Ohio, and a two-unit 1.9-gigawatt nuclear power plant in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. Together, the three power plants generate enough electricity to power roughly 3 million homes. Under the agreement, the Energy Department could expand its loan commitments to Vistra to include the company's Comanche Peak nuclear power plant in Texas. The agency said the deal as a whole could "add 433 megawatts (MW) of new nuclear capacity," although funding is contingent on Vistra meeting "certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions." 

Energy Secretary Chris Wright justified the release as a necessary step to deliver "more affordable, reliable, around-the-clock energy for American families and businesses." It's the latest in a series of government-backed loans issued through the Energy Department's Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF)—formerly the Loan Programs Office (which served as a chief financier of the Biden administration's green agenda)—acting under President Donald Trump's executive order to "work with the nuclear energy industry to facilitate 5 gigawatt of power uprates to existing nuclear reactors and have 10 new large reactors with complete designs under construction by 2030." 

The EDF has over $289 billion in loan authority, $250 billion of which is available through September 30, 2028, thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill signed into law last year. Excluding the Vistra commitment, the agency has committed at least $18.5 billion to nuclear power projects. This includes $17.5 billion to finance five projects to accelerate the deployment of those 10 new large nuclear reactors nationwide. It also includes a $1 billion loan to help finance a revamp of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. 

With rising energy costs and increased demand, lawmakers nationwide have joined the private sector in exploring nuclear energy as a reliable power source. A 2026 report by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) shows that in the past year, 45 states have taken legislative, regulatory, or executive action—some in the form of tax breaks—to support new or existing nuclear energy generation. At the forefront of this nuclear renaissance, the Trump administration has been eager to spur private capital by showing its willingness to do the same: It's continuing measures such as a $900 million subsidy program to finance small modular and other advanced nuclear reactors.

Yet aside from easing permitting regimes or loosening regulations, there's little role for the government to play in an industry that the private sector is eager to support.

The NEI's 2026 Nuclear Costs in Context report shows capital spending in America's nuclear industry rose to $7.59 billion in 2025, up from $6.10 billion the previous year, including $365 million to uprate existing nuclear power plants. So far in 2026, investors have spent $6.22 billion on startup companies developing nuclear energy technology and infrastructure, $1.9 billion more than in all of 2025, according to Crunchbase News. Globally, the International Energy Agency reported that investment in nuclear energy topped $80 billion in 2025.

With innovation and a commitment to exploring new technologies, America's nuclear industry is making a comeback. 

Instead of letting the market identify and invest in the nuclear power plants worth upgrading, the Trump administration would rather pick winners and losers so it can portray the president as the driving force behind the sector's growth.