Indiana Is Now the 41st NRC Agreement State. What That Could Mean for Your Bill in 2028.

Briefing note

Governor Mike Braun and NRC Chairman Ho K. Nieh signed an agreement September 24, 2026 making Indiana the 41st state to gain regulatory authority over byproduct, source, and special nuclear material: covering 213 academic, commercial, and medical facilities statewide, with Indiana's Department of Homeland Security taking over licensing, inspection, and enforcement. Braun framed the agreement as part of Indiana's 'all-of-the-above' energy cost strategy and cited progress on small modular reactors under Secretary of Energy and Natural Resources Suzanne Jaworowski; the move builds on Senate Enrolled Act 424 (introduced by Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford), which already allows investor-owned utilities to recover 80% of SMR development costs from ratepayers, often before construction begins. The agreement evolved beyond former Governor Eric Holcomb's original June 2021 letter of intent (which had excluded energy production) to now include power generation authority.

Impact

The under-reported regulatory arithmetic here works in two opposing directions simultaneously. On the accelerator side, Indiana Michigan Power/AEP, actively exploring the Rockport Plant in Spencer County as an SMR site and pursuing a $50 million DOE grant with TVA and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, can now route radioactive materials permitting through Indiana IDHS rather than the federal NRC queue, potentially compressing pre-application timelines. On the cost-risk side, SEA 424 allows utilities to recover SMR development costs through a rate schedule within three years, meaning charges could hit industrial bills by 2028-2029 for reactors that won't generate power until the mid-2030s at earliest, with no refund mechanism if projects are abandoned. Indiana Industrial Energy Consumers Inc., representing more than 20 of Indiana's largest energy users, explicitly flagged this risk during 2025 hearings, and a 2026 Indiana law simultaneously eliminated IDEM's authority to issue permits for new nuclear facilities or call public hearings on nuclear safety, meaning Indiana has expanded state authority on materials while contracting public-participation rights on the environmental side, a combination that creates fewer procedural checkpoints than in almost any other state.

Watch

Watch the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for the first formal SMR development cost recovery petition filed under SEA 424: Indiana Michigan Power/AEP's Rockport Plant exploration and Indianapolis-based startup First American Nuclear's EAGL-1 regulatory engagement plan (submitted to the NRC in April 2026) are the two most likely first filers, and whichever petition arrives first will set the precedent for how ratepayer cost exposure is structured.