Kentucky has always drawn business and industry with cheap, reliable power. As coal has declined and electricity demand keeps climbing, especially with data centers and manufacturing moving into the state, we need to make sure Kentucky isn’t left behind on what comes next. SB 57 is about getting ready for nuclear energy before we’re playing catch-up.
The bill creates a grant program that can cover up to a third of the real costs a company faces in applying for federal nuclear permits and licenses, capped at $25 million per project, to help get a nuclear facility through the years-long federal approval process. It’s not a blank check: applicants have to post a surety bond guaranteeing repayment, and if they don’t hit their permitting or construction deadlines, they forfeit the grant and pay it back. Before any of that money moves, the community where the facility would be built has to apply for and receive a “nuclear-ready community” designation, so local buy-in comes first. The bill also opens up existing economic development funding to nuclear projects and adds training requirements for the board overseeing all of it.
Sponsored by Sen. Danny Carroll, a longtime advocate for nuclear energy in Kentucky, with Sens. Deneen, Elkins, Mills, Neal, West, Wheeler, and Wise, and carried in the House by Rep. Randy Bridges. Passed the Senate 37-0 and the House 82-11.
Cheap, reliable, homegrown power has always been one of Kentucky’s advantages. This bill helps make sure it stays that way.