Trump Admin Commits $4.2 Billion Loan to Modernize and Expand Nuclear Power in Pennsylvania, Ohio

The Trump administration on Oct. 5 announced a loan commitment of up to $4.2 billion to finance one of the largest U.S. power producers, Vistra Corp., in its modernization and expansion of three existing nuclear power plants in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The work will preserve approximately 4 gigawatts of existing baseload power currently provided by the three plants, which is enough to power more than 3 million homes in the region.

An addition of 433 megawatts in capacity will help meet power supply needs of the massive 1-gigawatt Prometheus data center complex belonging to Facebook’s parent company Meta.

The conditional commitment, made through the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) on Oct. 5, is a promise to supply the loan with a structured debt agreement that the company must repay with interest.

Vistra Corp. still must meet technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before receiving the loan from the federal government.

In January, Vistra Corp. entered into 20-year agreements to provide more than 2.6 gigawatts of nuclear energy from its three nuclear plants to support Meta’s operations in the region.

The agreement includes 2.176 gigawatts of currently operating generation and the additional 433 megawatts of power output increases, which is the same amount it plans to increase using the federal loan funds.

The additional megawatts represent the largest nuclear uprates, or permanent increase in capacity, paid for by a corporate customer in the United States.

The expansions will be made to the company’s Beaver Valley plant in Pennsylvania, and Davis-Besse and Perry plants in Ohio, which currently generate 1,872, 908, and 1,268 megawatts respectively.

Vistra’s president and chief executive Jim Burke said in January that the long-term partnership with Meta gives the company the certainty it needs to invest in the “continued safe and reliable operation” of the three nuclear plants that will provide competitive and sustainable power for decades to come.

Vistra Corp. didn’t return a request for additional comment by publication time.

Meta’s head of global energy Urvi Parekh said the company was investing in nuclear energy because “it provides clean, reliable power that is essential for advancing our AI ambitions and strengthening American leadership in energy innovation.”

Meta’s deal with Vistra was one of three made by the tech company with regional power suppliers to meet the needs of Prometheus in New Albany, Ohio. The complex is expected to be operational by the end of this year.

The energy at the power plants will continue to go to the grid for all electricity users, according to Vistra.

The federal loan will help the company deliver more reliable energy to the national power grid, lower power costs, and meet the growing demand across the 13-state PJM Interconnection region, according to the Department of Energy.

“President [Donald] Trump promised to unleash an American nuclear renaissance, and the Energy Department is delivering,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in an Oct. 5 statement.

The investments are expected to support about 3,000 jobs in engineering, construction, and planned outage work, while preserving thousands of permanent, well-paying jobs.

Trump issued an executive order, “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base,” in May 2025 to ensure national and economic security by increasing the availability and domestic production of nuclear fuel, securing civil nuclear supply chains, and improving the efficiency of advanced nuclear reactors.