AUSTIN, Texas — Texas nuclear industry experts are lauding Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent appointment of Jarred Shaffer to lead the Texas Advanced Nuclear Office (TANO), which is responsible for funding mechanisms and regulatory support to accelerate nuclear energy deployment in the state.

The office was created by House Bill 14, signed into law by Abbott in June. It establishes the $350 million Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund, the nation’s largest state fund for advanced nuclear energy, according to Texas officials. The fund will provide grants and funding for advanced nuclear reactor projects in Texas.

The bill also creates a nuclear permitting coordinator position that supports the development and deployment of advanced nuclear and innovative energy technologies.

“Jarred is a good choice who will be dedicated to an efficient and expedited process to get the state money out the door,” former utility regulator Jimmy Glotfelty, who chaired the working group tasked with studying and planning the use of advanced nuclear in Texas, told RTO Insider.

Glotfelty’s working group produced a report in 2024 that recommended setting up a state agency as the “tip of the spear” to provide a voice for the nuclear industry. (See Texas Now Wants to be No. 1 in Nuclear Power.)

“I think it’s great that we’re moving this forward very quickly, because until we get the pieces in place, we can’t actually start giving away the money,” said Casey Kelley, vice president of state government affairs in the South for Constellation. The company operates the largest fleet of nuclear plants in the U.S. and is a part owner of the 2.65-GW South Texas Project (STP) Electric Generating Station near Houston.

Vistra’s 2.5-GW Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant is the only other nuclear facility in Texas. Comanche Peak and STP both have room for two more reactors.

Reed Clay, president of the Texas Nuclear Alliance, said Shaffer’s appointment as TANO’s inaugural director “marks another historic step in Texas’s leadership on nuclear energy.” He said the office will expand the state’s clean energy portfolio, spur significant manufacturing investment, simplify the permitting process and ensure the U.S., not China, is exporting nuclear power technology to the developing world.

“Quickly executing on the mandate of House Bill 14 is necessary for the rapid deployment of new nuclear in the state,” he said in an emailed statement to RTO Insider.

Clay called Shaffer’s appointment further proof Texas is “leading a nuclear renaissance” in the United States. “With strong leadership in place, it’s time to build,” Clay said, referring to Shaffer as a “seasoned energy policy expert.”

Formerly a budget and policy adviser in the governor’s office, Shaffer served as committee director for the Texas House Committee on State Affairs, a legislative liaison for the Texas Department of Transportation, and with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. He holds several bachelor’s degrees from The University of Texas at Austin.

Abbott said Shaffer’s expertise on energy issues “makes him the best fit to streamline the nuclear regulatory environment” and direct investments to spur the state’s nuclear power industry.

“TANO and the Texas Advanced Nuclear Development Fund will increase Texas’ investment in an all-of-the-above energy approach to solidify Texas as the world’s energy hub,” Abbott said.

“We do everything big in Texas,” Glotfelty said during CERAWeek 2025 in March. “Success is steel in the ground, concrete in the ground, people working and building a plant. That is the end goal.” (See “Nuclear Hub in Texas?” Overheard at CERAWeek 2025.)