Nebraska Public Power District received the largest single DOE Gen III+ SMR grant of $27,864,860 on May 14, 2026 to develop an NRC Early Site Permit for a future light-water SMR deployment in Nebraska. NPPD is Nebraska's publicly owned electric utility serving approximately 86,000 customers directly and wholesale power to 600,000 Nebraskans. The ESP grant enables site assessment work — environmental, geological, and safety evaluations — needed before reactor selection and construction permit applications. Nebraska has growing electricity demand from agricultural processing, data centres, and manufacturing.