Norma Field walks under power lines exiting the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant, with the plant operating and operated by Exelon Generation, in Middletown, Pennsylvania.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
Energy of the constellations plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant and sell the electricity to Microsoft, demonstrating the tech sector’s immense energy needs as it builds data centers to support artificial intelligence.
Constellation plans to return the Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island, near Middletown, Pennsylvania, to service in 2028, subject to approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the company said Friday. Constellation also plans to apply for an extension of the plant’s operations through at least 2054.
Constellation shares jumped nearly 7% in early trading.
Unit 1 shut down in 2019 as nuclear power struggled to compete economically with cheap natural gas and renewables. It is separate from the reactor that partially melted down in 1979 in the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.
Microsoft will purchase electricity from the plant to offset its data center consumption with carbon-free energy. Constellation described the deal with Microsoft as the largest power purchase agreement ever signed by the nuclear plant operator.
Data center electricity demand is expected to increase in the coming decades as the tech industry ramps up artificial intelligence, threatening to strain the power grid. While estimates vary, Goldman Sachs predicts that data centers will consume 8% of total U.S. electricity demand by 2030, up from 3% today.
Electricity demand is also increasing due to the expansion of domestic production and the adoption of electric vehicles. Rystad Energy predicts that data centers and electric vehicles alone will add 290 terawatt hours of electricity demand by the end of the decade, equivalent to Turkey’s entire consumption.
Tech companies are looking to nuclear power to meet this growing demand for electricity while meeting their climate goals.
In March, Amazon Web Services purchased a data center campus in Talen Energy Company which will be powered by the Susquehanna nuclear plant, also in Pennsylvania, in a first-of-its-kind deal. Oracle recently announced that it is designing a data center that will be powered by three small nuclear reactors.
Bipartisan support from federal and state governments for reviving the nuclear industry after a decade of reactor shutdowns is growing.
Three Mile Island would be the second nuclear power plant to restart in U.S. history. The Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan would be the first, expected to resume operation in late 2025.
