NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Public Utility Commission of Texas selected 17 projects, seeking $5.38 billion in government funding, to advance in a new program aimed at spurring the development of gas-fired power plants, the regulators said on Thursday.

The Lone Star State, whose power grid has been plagued with bouts of prolonged blackouts, established the Texas Energy Fund last year to incentivize the build-out of natural gas electricity generation by offering low-interest loans. NRG Energy ( NRG ), Vistra ( VST ), Constellation, NextEra and GE Vernova ( GEV ) are among the applicants.

The selected projects, totaling nearly 10,000 megawatts in power generation capacity, will advance to the next stage of the fund's application review process, the Texas PUC said. Approved applicants are expected to receive initial loan payments by Dec. 31, 2025.

The PUC received 72 applications for the loan program, with requests adding up to about $24 billion in funding for projects totaling more than 38,000 megawatts, the PUC said.