Ohio announces $100M Energy Opportunity Initiative fund

The move builds on recent nuclear momentum in the state. In September, Centrus Energy announced a plan to significantly expand its uranium enrichment plant in the town of Piketon.

More details: DeWine announced these plans in partnership with JobsOhio—a private nonprofit economic development corporation that focuses on bolstering a variety of Ohio industries—at the Ohio Business Roundtable CEO Summit last week.

There, he laid out that the fund would provide grants and low-interest loans to help offset natural gas– and nuclear power production–related costs. He also specified that the funding will work to ensure that Ohio has “the supply we need for current and future demand, which will help keep costs reasonable.”

The announcement laid out four pillars of funding:

• Engineering, right-of-way, and construction for new and existing natural gas infrastructure.
• Site preparation for SMR generation.
• Advanced workforce training and the creation of a “nuclear energy center of excellence” around employment.
• Incentives for attracting supply-chain companies for SMR manufacturing and production.

Amir Vexler, president and CEO of Centrus Energy, said that DeWine’s focus on new workforce development will be particularly critical for facilitating Centrus’s expansion plans.

In his remarks during the Roundtable event, DeWine added that this funding slots in with his broader, ongoing work to accelerate natural gas and nuclear deployment in the state. He specifically called out his signing of H.B. 15 in May as critical legislation to expedite new projects and pointed to his collaboration with PJM to create a separate, prioritized review queue for natural gas and nuclear projects that takes precedence over renewable projects.

Finally, DeWine said that new nuclear development builds on a rich nuclear history in Ohio and a robust supply chain. He named two nuclear power plants, two BWX Technology plants, a beryllium product plant, and Ohio State University’s research reactor as a few examples of the state’s deep experience in the sector.