The Trump administration is providing Constellation Energy with $5 billion in loans to increase nuclear generating capacity at eight power plants by 1.1 gigawatts.
Most or all of the additional energy from seven of these facilities has already been purchased by Google, Meta or Amazon.
Constellation said it plans to use the funding to “upgrade” 11 existing reactors, an industry term for increasing a reactor’s capacity, often by using highly enriched uranium and upgrading equipment to handle the increased power levels.
The energy company said it has already committed to spending more than $7 billion to add 1,080 megawatts of nuclear capacity to provide power to Google, Amazon and Meta. The loan commitment, which has not yet been finalized, “could reduce financing costs” for the projects, Constellation said in a press release.
The eight power plants include six in Illinois (Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, La Salle and Quad Cities), one in Maryland (Calvert Cliffs) and one in Pennsylvania (Limerick).
Google is already the confirmed buyer of additional electricity from the Pennsylvania plant and four Illinois power plants, while Amazon is buying power from the Maryland plant and Meta is effectively buying the entire Clinton power plant in Illinois.
On Tuesday, the Energy Department touted the loan as supporting “affordable, reliable energy for American homes and businesses,” even though there is no evidence that new nuclear capacity will lower prices for residential ratepayers. Constellation’s announcement does not specify whether the plans will maintain or reduce electricity rates, and the company will not confirm the government’s claims made to TechCrunch.
Hyperscalers including Google, Amazon and Meta are scouring the network for additional capacity to support their AI data centers. Tech companies are paying a lot for energy, committing tens of billions of dollars in the coming years. Given that electricity has become a competitive advantage, this estimate is likely on the low end.
By lowering the cost of capital for upgrades, Department of Energy loans could improve Constellation’s bottom line, those of hyperscalers — or both.
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