The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) has made a conditional loan commitment of up to $4.2 billion to finance nuclear uprates and modernization across Vistra's nuclear fleet in Pennsylvania and Ohio. DOE says the money is meant to meet growing power demand across the 13-state PJM Interconnection region.
What the money pays for
The planned investments cover Beaver Valley in Pennsylvania and Davis-Besse and Perry in Ohio. DOE says they will preserve nearly 4 gigawatts of baseload power and add 433 megawatts of new nuclear capacity. They also support running the plants for an additional 20 years beyond their existing licenses.
DOE says the projects will produce more electricity from existing nuclear plants without requiring new transmission corridors or equivalent new generation resources. It describes the preserved output as enough to power more than 3 million homes.
The commitment also includes an option to finance potential future uprates at Vistra's Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant in Texas.
Jobs
DOE puts the project workforce at approximately 3,000 jobs in engineering, construction and planned outage work. It adds that the projects preserve thousands of permanent jobs.
What officials said
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that getting more power out of the nuclear plants the country already has can deliver more affordable, reliable, around-the-clock energy for American families and businesses. DOE ties the announcement to President Trump's executive order Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base.
EDF Director Gregory A. Beard said the investments will extend the life of existing reactors, increase nuclear generation and deliver around-the-clock power to lower costs.
Conditions on the loan
The commitment is conditional. DOE describes it as an indication of its intent to provide a loan. Vistra must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental and financial conditions before the Department enters into definitive financing documents and funds the loan.
