Policy and licensing / Kentucky
Kentucky KRS 278.615: nuclear permit and license cost recovery
Kentucky's compiled KRS 278.615 took effect on 15 July 2026. It allows the commission to consider recovery of a regulated utility's costs of seeking specified NRC permits for a new nuclear energy generating facility in the state. The facility class is Generation III Plus, Generation IV, or later. No recovery order was opened, and the statute does not approve a reactor.
- Category
- Laws, rules and executive directives
- Status
- In effect
- Instrument
- statute · Ky. Rev. Stat. § 278.615 (2026 Ky. Acts ch. 56, sec. 2)
- Issued by
- Kentucky General Assembly
- Jurisdiction
- Kentucky
- Affects
- Utility cost recovery
- In effect from
- 15 Jul 2026 · actual · day
- Expiry or completion
- None recorded
- Operative text
- Kentucky Revised Statutes 278.615 (Kentucky Legislative Research Commission compiled section, opened 4 October 2026)
- Last checked · next review
- 2026-10-04 · 2027-04-15
Legal and geographic scope
Current compiled statute, effective 15 July 2026. On application by a regulated utility, the commission may allow recovery of costs not already in rates that were incurred to apply for and procure an NRC early site permit, construction permit, or combined license for a new nuclear energy generating facility in the Commonwealth. Recovery is not allowed for amounts offset by a KRS 164.2805 grant. The facility definition matches the Generation III Plus, Generation IV, or later definition. Permission to seek cost recovery is not permission to construct or operate.
Not approved or still pending
No commission cost-recovery order was opened. The statute says the commission may allow recovery; it does not require it. Amounts offset by a KRS 164.2805 grant are excluded, and no such grant is recorded. No project is named.
Dated lifecycle
- 15 Jul 2026 · actual · day · Took effect — The compiled statute says it was created by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 56, section 2, effective 15 July 2026. It lets the commission consider cost recovery for specified NRC permit costs. It does not approve a plant. The act's approval day is not on this page. (Kentucky Revised Statutes 278.615)
Definitions in this instrument
- Nuclear energy generating facility (KRS 278.615(1)(f)): A facility containing a nuclear reactor of Generation III Plus, Generation IV, or later design that produces electricity, at least some of which is sold to the public.
Legal definition used by this instrument only; SMRMap's inclusion rule for SMRs is separate and unchanged.
Related instruments
Projects or designs named by the source
- None. Location in this jurisdiction does not make a project eligible for, or approved under, this measure.
Sources
- Kentucky Revised Statutes 278.615 (government_primary, accessed 2026-10-04)