Nine Illinois communities express interest in hosting new nuclear facilities in response to state NOI

Nine Illinois communities have filed responses to a state notice of intent signaling interest in hosting a new nuclear facility, according to submissions made to the Illinois Commerce Commission. The ICC set a May 25 deadline for communities to respond as part of a formal process to gauge where in the state new reactors might be welcomed.

Nine communities respond to Illinois nuclear hosting NOI

Nine communities formally submitted responses to the ICC, putting themselves on record as open to exploring a new nuclear facility. The ICC hasn’t publicly named all nine at this stage, but their submissions mark a concrete early step in what’s expected to be a long siting and planning process. Local interest in nuclear development clearly exists across the state — even as broader debates about cost, safety, and infrastructure keep going at the national level.

The dual-track NOI structure matters here. The community-facing NOI was specifically designed to collect expressions of interest from localities, separate from the parallel process targeting developers. Filing a response doesn’t commit a community to anything binding—but it does put them in the conversation as the ICC moves forward with its review.

The ICC will now review the nine community responses as part of the ongoing siting and planning process—and that review isn’t going to produce quick results.

Governor Pritzker’s executive order launched the NOI process

The process that produced these nine responses traces back to February, when Governor J.B. Pritzker signed an executive order directing the ICC to issue two separate notices of intent. One NOI targeted nuclear power plant developers, inviting them to signal interest in building new facilities in Illinois. The other one—the one that generated the nine community responses—went directly to potential host communities.

Pritzker’s executive order came roughly one month after he lifted Illinois’s longstanding moratorium on new nuclear reactor construction. Lifting the moratorium first cleared the legal path; the executive order then set the formal machinery in motion. Without removing the moratorium, the state couldn’t meaningfully solicit developer proposals or community interest in any official capacity.

The two-NOI approach reflects a structured philosophy: gauge supply and demand separately before bringing them together. Developers need to know communities are willing. Communities need to know developers are serious. Running both tracks in parallel keeps things moving without forcing premature commitments from either side.

Lifting the moratorium opened the door for new reactor development

Illinois’s moratorium on new nuclear reactor construction had been in place for years before Pritzker moved to remove it—effectively blocking any formal state-level effort to plan or permit new reactors, regardless of whether developers or communities were interested. Its removal was a prerequisite, not just politically but procedurally, for everything that followed.

Once the moratorium was lifted, the ICC could engage both developers and communities through the NOI process. For years, any conversation about new nuclear construction in Illinois was largely hypothetical. Now it’s operating inside a formal regulatory framework—with deadlines, submissions, and an agency tasked with reviewing the results. That’s a meaningful shift.

Separating developer applications from community willingness also means neither group is reacting to the other prematurely. It’s a more deliberate way to structure a siting process that, in practice, involves years of planning before a single shovel hits the ground.

Illinois nuclear energy policy context

Illinois is already one of the largest nuclear energy-producing states in the country. Multiple existing reactors generate a substantial share of the state’s electricity. That existing infrastructure — along with the workforce, regulatory familiarity, and public experience that comes with it — gives Illinois a different starting point than states approaching nuclear development from scratch.

The state’s decision to actively solicit new nuclear development fits into a broader national conversation. Across the US, there’s renewed interest in expanding nuclear capacity, driven by growing electricity demand, decarbonization goals, and advances in reactor technology, including smaller modular reactor designs. Illinois isn’t moving in isolation — it’s part of a wider trend of states and utilities reconsidering nuclear’s role in the energy mix.

None of that makes the path straightforward. New nuclear construction in the US has historically faced significant cost overruns and delays. But the policy environment has shifted, and Illinois is now formally positioned to participate in whatever the next chapter of nuclear development looks like.

What happens next

The ICC will now review the nine community responses as part of the ongoing siting and planning process—and that review isn’t going to produce quick results. Nuclear facility siting involves environmental assessments, infrastructure analysis, regulatory approvals, and sustained community engagement, all before any construction decisions get made, says the American Nuclear Society.

A few things are clear from where things stand. Nine Illinois communities have formally expressed interest in hosting a new nuclear facility, with responses received by the May 25 deadline set through Governor Pritzker’s executive order in February. That executive order followed his earlier decision to lift the state’s moratorium on new reactor construction. The community responses represent one track of a two-part NOI process that also targets developers on a separate timeline. Illinois enters all of this as an already significant nuclear energy state—with existing infrastructure and regulatory experience that could shape how the next phase unfolds.

Kelly Lippke

Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.