Google and Constellation Energy Strike a Sweeping Nuclear-Power Deal

Google and Constellation Energy CEG 15.10%increase; green up pointing triangle agreed to a sweeping, 20-year nuclear-power deal that would boost output at 11 existing reactors, the latest tie-up between the tech and energy industries to power new data centers.

The 890-megawatt power-purchase agreement unveiled by the companies Tuesday involves improvements to Constellation-owned reactors in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The upgrades will provide additional power to the grid that is roughly equivalent to building a new large reactor. The deal is the largest-ever “uprate” project, one that squeezes more power out of existing reactors, between a nuclear power provider and a tech company.

Constellation said it plans to invest more than $4.3 billion in the plants.

“These are expensive things to be done, and we’ve known that we could do this for a number of years now,” said Joe Dominguez, Constellation’s chief executive. “But it’s really Google stepping up to the plate and providing the financial backing for us to be able to bring on what is effectively a new reactor.”

Shares in Constellation rose about 14% in midday trading Tuesday and sparked a rally among other power producers. Shares of Talen Energy rose 13%, while Vistra climbed 11% and NRG Energy rose 8%.

Constellation aims to deliver the first uprate project in 2028, while construction on the others continues through 2032 or 2033, Dominguez said.

Google and Constellation also agreed to a 15-year supply deal for an additional 2,700 megawatts of electricity in the PJM power market in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.

Big technology companies have been trying to secure power for new data centers that require as much electricity as a city. They have been especially enamored with nuclear power, which provides clean, 24-7 electricity, but is difficult and costly to build.

The Trump administration has been eager to add nuclear power, including by squeezing more output from existing reactors.

“The speed to firm, clean power in a responsible way was incredibly important to us,” said Amanda Peterson Corio, global head of energy and power at Google, noting that the deal comes “in a moment where data centers are under a lot of criticism.”

The companies said they also plan to work on new power generation, battery storage and demand response programs that shift or reduce power consumption when the grid is stressed.

Google’s nuclear power plans have been among the more ambitious of tech companies as it has focused on adding new capacity to the grid.

Last month, the search giant said it would support nuclear plant upgrades in Georgia. It is also working with NextEra Energy to restart the Duane Arnold Energy Center, a nuclear reactor in Iowa, and has paired with reactor developer Kairos Power to purchase electricity from its projects.

News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, has a commercial agreement to supply content on Google platforms.

Nuclear power has traditionally taken a long time to build and gone over budget in the U.S., a history that has made it difficult to get a new wave of projects under construction. Upgrades at existing plants and restarts of a handful of recently closed reactors are considered the quickest, lowest-hanging fruit for adding more nuclear power.

Meta earlier this year signed a 20-year agreement with Vistra that included 433 megawatts of generation-output increases across three plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Last week, Amazon said it had signed a 20-year power-purchase deal with Constellation that included an upgrade of a nuclear plant on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay, adding 190 megawatts of power.

Constellation, the country’s largest owner of nuclear power reactors, also has a deal with Microsoft, which is supporting the restart of the undamaged reactor at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island. That was the site of the country’s worst nuclear power accident and is now called the Crane Clean Energy Center. The reactor was considered too costly to run and closed in 2019, prior to the AI power boom.