Three Utah advocacy groups filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission on August 17, accusing the state's energy office of running deceptive advertisements that promote nuclear power as part of Governor Spencer Cox's Operation Gigawatt initiative. Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, and Downwinders Inc. are asking federal regulators to determine whether enforcement action is warranted against the Utah Office of Energy Development.
The ads at the center of the complaint appeared online, on billboards, and in newspapers, and made comparisons the groups call misleading, including claims that nuclear power plants emit less radiation than eating a banana, that nuclear energy is safer than sitting in a chair or lighting a candle, and that it carries less risk than eating leftovers, according to KSL NewsRadio. Steve Erickson described the campaign as “state-sponsored propaganda,” telling the station it amounted to industry messaging paid for with taxpayer money. The Utah Office of Energy Development's campaign, launched in April as part of Operation Gigawatt, featured roughly a dozen billboards along major state highways along with newspaper ads and a dedicated state website, according to We News.
Physicians Group Cites Cancer Studies
Brian Moench said the campaign's central claims are misleading and argued that every phase of the nuclear fuel cycle exposes the public to additional radiation. He also said studies show people living within a few miles of nuclear power plants have higher rates of virtually every kind of cancer, and maintained that there is no safe level of radiation exposure. Mary Dickson, a thyroid cancer survivor, called the ads outright misleading and offensive, per the station's report.
The groups are requesting cease-and-desist orders, corrective disclosures, and other remedies. Erickson said the coalition hopes the FTC will issue an order requiring the advertisements' removal, framing the complaint as an effort to counter what he called pro-nuclear misinformation designed to build public support for nuclear power. The Utah Office of Energy Development did not respond to KSL's request for comment.
Operation Gigawatt's Rapid Buildout
The complaint lands amid a fast-moving state push to expand nuclear capacity. Cox unveiled Operation Gigawatt in October 2024 to double Utah's energy-generating capacity over 10 years to meet demand from population growth and data-intensive artificial intelligence development, according to the Utah Governor's Office. The governor has touted nuclear energy as central to that plan, and the state has since struck a string of partnerships with reactor developers.
Valar Atomics' Ward 250 microreactor reached zero-power fueled criticality in Orangeville in June, a milestone the company says makes it the first Department of Energy-authorized reactor built and operated outside a national laboratory, according to the American Nuclear Society. The reactor's modular components were flown to Utah aboard U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo planes under the Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Program. Earlier this month, the Governor's Office of Economic Development approved up to $106.7 million in tax credits over 10 years for Valar Atomics' $1.3 billion capital investment at the state-run San Rafael Energy Lab in Emery County, according to the Salt Lake Business Journal.
Brigham City and Beyond
Hi Tech Solutions and Holtec International announced plans in November 2025 for a nuclear energy hub in and around Brigham City, with long-term proposals for four to 10 Holtec SMR-300 small modular reactors as part of what backers describe as a broader nuclear energy ecosystem. That project has already drawn organized local pushback, as detailed in Hoodline's earlier Brigham City reporting on community concerns over water use, waste, and safety.
Holtec's SMR-300 was also selected in May for Utah's Green River Advanced Nuclear Project, incorporating an optional air-cooled condenser system designed for arid desert environments, according to World Nuclear News. Separately, TerraPower and the state signed a non-binding agreement in August 2025 to evaluate sites for a potential advanced nuclear plant, and Nuclea Energy USA signed a memorandum of understanding with the state energy office in June to explore siting a test reactor for its Morpheus Micro Reactor at the San Rafael lab, according to Newsfile Corp.
A Regulatory Question With Precedent
Whether the FTC will assert jurisdiction over promotional material produced by a state government agency, rather than a private company, remains an open legal question tied to this case. Environmental groups have gone this route before: Public Citizen petitioned the FTC in 1999 over Nuclear Energy Institute ads that promoted nuclear power as environmentally benign, a complaint that followed a referral from the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division. The FTC regulates advertising and may prohibit unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce, though it has not yet indicated how it will handle the Utah complaint.
The San Rafael Energy Lab sits near Orangeville in Emery County, adjacent to active coal mines and gigawatt-scale coal-fired power plants, and functions as a state-managed testbed for shifting fossil infrastructure toward nuclear power. Local leaders in coal-dependent Emery County have viewed advanced nuclear as a potential replacement for declining coal jobs, even as the new FTC complaint signals that the fight over how the state sells that transition to the public is far from settled.
