Dive Brief:
- Meta and energy producer Constellation Energy announced a 20-year nuclear power purchase agreement on Tuesday that will give the social media and tech conglomerate access to zero emissions power for its artificial intelligence goals and help keep an Illinois facility online.
- The agreement will give Meta 1,121 megawatts of nuclear energy beginning in June 2027 from Constellation’s Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois. The PPA will also support the relicensing and continued operations of the Illinois power plant when a state zero emissions energy tax credit expires in 2027.
- Meta is among a growing number of tech giants who have turned to nuclear to help offset growing data center energy needs driven by artificial intelligence. The company previously released requests for proposals seeking up to 4 gigawatts of new nuclear energy generation capacity to support its “AI innovation and sustainability objectives.”
Dive Insight:
Meta’s deal will also allow Constellation to expand the facility to generate an additional 30 megawatts of power during the 20-year extension of operations, which will also preserve more than 1,000 jobs and deliver an estimated $13.5 million in annual tax revenue, according to the June 3 release.
The Clinton Clean Energy Center had previously been saved by a state zero emissions tax credit program, after it was slated for closure in 2017. Meta’s power purchase agreement is designed to replace that credit and support the continued operations of the plant “without ratepayer support,” according to Constellation.
Meta Head of Global Energy Urvi Parekh said in the release that in addition to ensuring the long-term operation of the plant and preserving jobs, the deal demonstrates that “this plant is an important piece to strengthening American leadership in energy.” The deal will also aid the global tech and social media conglomerate in its goal to reach zero emissions across its supply chain by 2030.
“Securing clean, reliable energy is necessary to continue advancing our AI ambitions,” Parekh said.
Constellation said it is also exploring strategies that would extend an existing early site permit at the plant or approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to develop either an advanced nuclear reactor or small modular reactor at the Illinois site.
This deal marks the second high-profile nuclear power purchase agreement Constellation has signed with a tech giant, following Microsoft’s 20-year agreement with the energy producer last fall. This deal will restart operations for a nuclear generator at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island facility in 2028.
Constellation CEO and President Joseph Dominguez said that after its plans to restart the Three Mile Island facility became national news, Meta questioned why “such a valuable plant” would be allowed to close in the first place, then “figured out that supporting the relicensing and expansion of existing plants is just as impactful as finding new sources of energy.”
Meta — along with fellow tech giants Google and Amazon — was among a group of “large energy users” who signed a pledge to triple global nuclear energy capacity by 2050 at S&P Global’s CERAWeek conference in March. Google recently announced a deal with Elementl Power to advance the early stage development of three advanced nuclear energy projects.
Among the U.S. clean energy technologies, nuclear energy also avoided seeing the majority of its tax credits being sliced by the House-passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” While Congressional Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill is expected to see further changes in the Senate, the nuclear energy industry received a carveout from restrictions on technology-neutral tax credits in the House version, and would have the full value of those credits available until 2031 if that remains.
