Louisville Gas and Electric, Kentucky Utilities and X-energy, a designer of advanced nuclear reactor technology and manufacturer of advanced nuclear fuels, are collaborating to explore deploying X-energy’s Xe-100 small modular reactor in Kentucky.
The companies, subsidiaries of investor-owned PPL Corporation, have begun early project feasibility activities and will explore opportunities for SMR deployments to support long-term grid reliability across the Commonwealth, and large load customers, including data centers, X-energy said on April 30.
"This collaboration follows recent significant interest in nuclear energy in the Bluegrass State as a reliable option for baseload power generation, designed to be available at any time and in all conditions," it said.
In 2024, the Commonwealth formed the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority, a non-regulatory agency seeking to support the nuclear energy ecosystem in Kentucky, and the Kentucky Public Service Commission opened a case in 2025 to investigate nuclear energy, including how Kentucky would regulate nuclear development.
In April of this year, Governor Andy Beshear signed into law the Nuclear Reactor Site Readiness Pilot Program passed by the General Assembly, which includes a $75-million grant initiative to support nuclear site feasibility studies, applications for early site and construction permitting, and licensing.
Three projects will be selected to receive up to $25 million each. In addition, this legislation allows a regulated utility to apply to the Public Service Commission for the recovery of costs, which are not covered in the existing rates of the utility, that have been incurred in applying for such permitting and licensing for sites in the Commonwealth.
“On the heels of the Nuclear Reactor Site Readiness Pilot Program being signed into law this month, we’re proud to work with X-energy to explore bringing nuclear energy to Kentucky to support the significant pipeline of new projects in our service territories where large load customers can support the cost structure," said John R. Crockett III, President for LG&E and KU.
"We have an all-of-the-above approach to our power generation fleet that’s among the most reliable in the nation. This collaboration will explore whether nuclear energy fits into our long-term plans. The X-energy Xe-100 reactor is one of the Gen 4 nuclear SMRs being developed in the U.S. today and is one of the safest nuclear designs on the market today. We look forward to working with X-energy and hyperscalers on this effort and the prospect of participating in the new pilot program.”
X-energy’s Xe-100 SMR is an 80 MWe high-temperature gas-cooled reactor that can be deployed in either four- or twelve-unit plants depending on grid requirements: a four-unit plant delivers 320 MWe for regional utilities and large load customers, while a twelve-unit plant provides gigawatt-scale power for larger metropolitan areas and hyperscale infrastructure.
Each reactor is capable of coming online independently upon completion. This allows end users to phase in capacity one unit at a time, aligning new generation with demand growth and matching power supply to real-world load expansion.
X-energy is currently developing more than 11 GW of new nuclear capacity across projects in the United States and United Kingdom, including partnerships with Dow Chemical, Amazon, and Centrica.
In 2024, Energy Northwest announced an agreement with Amazon and X energy to build up to 12 small modular reactors, called the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility, near Columbia Generating Station, the Pacific Northwest’s only commercial nuclear power plant.
