The selection and evaluation of sites for power plants have become increasingly difficult in recent years as pressures from various societal segments have resulted in government restraints on selection and burning of fossil fuels, on methods of heat dissipation, on acquisition of transmission line rights-of-way, and on environmental impact in general. The key elements in successful application of power plant siting technology are the development of the proper balance among the basic siting considerations and the understanding that level of detail in a study varies in an inverse relationship with the siting area under examination. As the first step in the process of selection and eventual licensing of new thermal power plant sites for a utility in the State of Ohio, the entire state was screened to determine promising candidate regions large enough to offer several possible candidate sites for thermal power plants. Because of the size of the area under consideration and the advantages of developing sites with an ultimate capacity for more than one power plant, sites with an installed capacity of 1100 to 4400 MW(e) were considered for this study. As a result of the preliminary screening conducted in four distinct steps, three candidate regions showed the best overall promise for either nuclear or fossil-fueled power plant development. Tentative identification was made of candidate sites within these candidate regions, and follow-on studies conducted in an increasing level of detail are presently in progress to determine the candidate site(s) most promising for power plant siting.