Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities have begun a project feasibility study with X-energy to consider deploying small modular reactors to prop up power-hungry data centers the utilities are courting and support long-term grid stability throughout Central and Eastern Kentucky, the joint utilities said.
The companies appear motivated by new legislation Gov. Andy Beshear signed into law last month granting new nuclear ventures help clearing red tape in Washington. Lawmakers in Frankfort have been busy laying the groundwork for what they hope will be a diversified power grid strong enough to attract high-load customers like artificial-intelligence data centers and large-scale industries.
“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 LG&E and KU President and CEO said John R. Crockett III in a statement.
Kentucky’s newly formed Nuclear Energy Development Authority awarded American Electric Power Inc. a $1 million grant earlier this year to cover siting costs for a small reactor in the far-Eastern Kentucky service region covered by its subsidiary Kentucky Power. The Appalachian power provider based in Ashland is Kentucky’s second-largest publicly traded utility behind LG&E/KU, which is owned by PPL Electric Utilities.
LG&E/KU have been on an aggressive new power generation spending spree as they seek to bring on board new data center customers. The companies secured state regulators’ permission to build two new natural gas power plants last year. They are also negotiating with a water battery developer to convert an Eastern Kentucky coal mine into a circular pumped storage system.
But nuclear energy would join legacy coal and natural gas power plants as a base load fuel that could offer continuous, 24-hour power to meet demand minimums.
“We have an all-of-the-above approach to our power generation fleet that’s among the most reliable in the nation,” Crockett said. “This collaboration will explore whether nuclear energy fits into our long-term plans.”
Small, prefab reactors like X-Energy’s Xe-100 are an alluring entry point for Kentucky’s nuclear proponents looking to stand up sites quickly without alarming Kentuckians jittery about the risk of catastrophic reactor meltdowns or long-term radioactive waste disposal.
The Xe-100 LG&E and KU say they are interested in is one of 35 advanced reactor designs in the pre-application design permitting phase with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. There are no small modular reactors currently operating domestically. Only two designs have secured approval, and one project has received the green light from Washington to begin construction.
X-energy’s Xe-100 high-temperature, gas-cooled reactors are expected to produce up to 80 megawatts of electricity — less than a third of that produced by more traditional pressurized water reactors — with passive safety systems that can shut down and cool the reactor without human intervention. The company expects to configure them in four- or 12-unit plants capable of anywhere between 320 megawatts or up to a gigawatt of electricity, or enough to power a large city.
Lawmakers have said they envision SMRs small and versatile enough to serve individual power customers such as data centers, which have been criticized as too energy intensive and posing a risk to ratepayers whose bills could increase to cover their demand.
Legislation that would have barred utilities from passing those costs on to residential ratepayers stalled in the state Senate this year, despite easily clearing the House.
“This collaboration allows us to explore how the Xe-100 can support the Commonwealth’s growing electricity demands while strengthening grid reliability and creating economic opportunity across the region,” X-energy CEO J. Clay Sell said in a statement.
© 2026 Lexington Herald-Leader. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
