U.S. Reportedly Plans $4.2 Billion Loan to Vistra to Expand Nuclear Output

The U.S. government reportedly plans to provide about $4.2 billion in financing to Vistra (VST) to increase electricity generation from its nuclear fleet, according to a Reuters report carried by Investing.com. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is expected to announce the financing on Monday during a visit to one of Vistra's nuclear facilities along Lake Erie in Ohio. The deal has not been officially confirmed, and the reports did not name which Energy Department program would provide the money.

The financing would support efforts to "uprate," or raise the output of, at least three of Vistra's four nuclear power stations. Bloomberg, which first reported the plan on Friday, described a roughly $4 billion package to upgrade three plants, two in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania, with the announcement set for the Perry nuclear complex northeast of Cleveland, according to Investing.com. Vistra's Ohio plants are Perry and Davis-Besse and its Pennsylvania plant is Beaver Valley. In January, Vistra disclosed 20-year power deals with Meta that include 433 MW of planned uprates at those three plants, with full delivery by year end 2034, though the loan reports did not tie the financing to that contract.

Vistra operates six reactors across four U.S. nuclear plants with combined capacity of more than 6.5 gigawatts. Uprates can come from more enriched fuel, larger fuel loads at refueling, or equipment upgrades such as new turbines, and the NRC had approved more than 170 such projects by 2022. Raising output at existing plants is one of the faster ways to add nuclear capacity as data-center demand grows, since new reactors take years to permit and build.

Vistra shares pared losses after the Bloomberg report on Friday, trading down 0.3% at $139.20 after a session low of $135.79, Investing.com reported. Watch Monday's announcement for the final loan size, the program and terms, and which plants and megawatt gains it covers.