NRC chairman to join Utah governor at nuclear summit on AI demand

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman is headed to Park City for a summit that puts nuclear power squarely in the middle of the AI buildout conversation. Ho K. Nieh will join Utah Governor Spencer Cox at the Operation Gigawatt Summit on May 22 at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, where the summit website says tickets are sold out and the program is set to draw federal and state officials, investors, builders and industry leaders.

Cox’s official schedule shows the day opening with an 8:30 a.m. fireside chat with Nieh, followed by a 9:15 a.m. fireside chat with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and a 1:30 p.m. panel titled “Winning Public Trust in the New Nuclear Age.” The NRC’s announcement frames the appearance around nuclear energy’s role in meeting rising U.S. electricity demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure, manufacturing and advanced industry, a notable shift from the old habit of treating nuclear only as a legacy baseload resource.

For Utah, the summit fits a much larger campaign Cox launched on October 8, 2024, when he unveiled Operation Gigawatt with a goal of doubling the state’s power production over 10 years. Utah’s Office of Energy Development says the initiative centers on transmission, generation, policy support for nuclear and geothermal energy, and energy innovation and research. The state has already moved that agenda into concrete work, including a ceremonial signing on April 25, 2025, that advanced energy legislation and an MOU with Idaho National Laboratory.

The regional nuclear conversation is already extending beyond policy language. A Utah-linked effort is exploring advanced small modular reactors at the Intermountain Power Project site under the Operation Gigawatt umbrella, and industry coverage has also connected the initiative to a proposed nuclear manufacturing and training hub in the Brigham City area. Utah state energy materials say the broader aim is to keep the state positioned as a net energy exporter while it expands and diversifies its energy base.

The timing helps explain why the Park City stage matters. The EIA said on January 13, 2026, that U.S. electricity demand is forecast to grow 1% in 2026 and 3% in 2027, then said on April 8 that data center load is emerging as the dominant driver of long-term U.S. electricity growth. On May 19, the agency projected that electricity consumed by data center servers could reach 446 billion to 818 billion kWh by 2050.

Nieh’s own ascent also gives the summit added weight. The NRC says President Donald Trump designated him chairman on January 8, 2026, after he was sworn in as a commissioner on December 4, 2025, making him the first former NRC resident inspector to serve as a commissioner. That background, paired with Utah’s push for more firm power, turns the Park City appearance into a clear signal of where regulators and state leaders think the next nuclear momentum is headed.