Meta goes nuclear to power AI with clean electrons
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Facebook parent Meta on Tuesday inked a 20-year deal with power giant Constellation Energy to keep a large Illinois nuclear plant running until mid-century.
Why it matters: It's a big addition to a hot power trend — big tech looking to reactors big and small to meet AI's electricity thirst with zero-carbon energy.
Driving the news: The companies announced a 20-year power purchase agreement for the 1.1-gigawatt Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois.
- The plant — which provides enough power for over 800,000 homes — had been slated to retire in 2027.
- Constellation, with the Meta deal, now intends to continue operations until 2047 if federal regulators grant an extension it began seeking last year.
How it works: The power will keep feeding the regional grid, but Meta's financing helps enable the plant's relicensing and extended operations.
- "Securing clean, reliable energy is necessary to continue advancing our AI ambitions," Urvi Parekh, Meta's head of global energy, said in a statement.
- It comes after Microsoft's 2024 deal with Constellation to revive a shuttered reactor at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island (not the damaged one).
State of play: Meta and Constellation didn't provide cost details beyond noting it's a multibillion-dollar proposition.
- The agreement will "preserve 1,100 high-paying local jobs; deliver $13.5 million in annual tax revenue; and add $1 million in charitable giving to local nonprofits over five years," they said.
Catch up quick: Clinton had been slated for early closure in 2017, but state legislation created an emissions credit program that brought a decade's worth of support.
- The new deal with Meta is a "market-based solution" that replaces those credits and "ensures long-term operations of the plant without ratepayer support," the companies said.
The big picture: Joe Dominguez, Constellation's CEO, said Meta agrees that "supporting the relicensing and expansion of existing plants is just as impactful as finding new sources of energy."
- The company pointed to a Brattle Group study it commissioned, which found that shutting the plant at the end of 2026 would boost emissions by 34 million metric tons of CO2 over 20 years.
- That's "the equivalent to putting approximately 7.4 million gasoline-powered cars on the road for a year," today's announcement states.
What we're watching: The growing mix of big tech deals to support new reactors of various sorts, including small modular tech, though they're typically early stage and aspirational.
- Google, Amazon and other heavyweight players are involved, and action includes Meta, too.
- In late 2024, it issued a "request for proposals" that targets a large pipeline — one to four gigawatts — of new generation.
- This morning, Meta said it has received over 50 qualified submissions and identified a short list to evaluate.
The bottom line: The planned extension in Illinois is among the most tangible big tech-nuclear tie-ups yet.
