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Meta signs power deal with Constellation Nuclear Plant

Meta Platforms announced on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with Constellation Energy, which will keep a reactor in Illinois operational for the next 20 years. This is the first time a Big Tech company has made a deal with atomic power plants.

Share Reaction

Constellation Energy's shares rose 13.4% in premarket trading to $355.5.

Why it's important

The Big Tech Companies are seeking to secure electricity, as the U.S. demand for power has risen for the first two decades due to artificial intelligence and data centres.

Illinois helps to subsidise Constellation's Clinton Clean Energy Center nuclear plant with a ratepayer funded zero emissions credit program. This program awards benefits for the generation of electricity virtually free of CO2 emissions. This agreement expires 2027 when Meta's Power Purchase Agreement will provide an unspecified amount to support the plant for re-licensing, and operation.

This deal could be a template for other Big Tech firms to use to support their existing nuclear power while also planning to power data centres with new nuclear energy and other sources.

KEY QUOTES

Urvi Parekh is the head of global energy for Meta. He said: "One thing that we hear from utilities very clearly is that they want certainty that power stations operating today will remain operational."

Joe Dominguez said that Constellation is in talks with other clients not only in Illinois but across the nation to do what Meta did, which was to give us a backup so we could invest in the necessary investments to relicense these assets and to keep them operational.

Bobby Wendell is an official with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He said that the agreement would provide a "stable working environment" for the workers in the plant.

By the Numbers

Constellation can also expand Clinton by 30 MW, which is a plant with a 1,121-megawatt capacity. The plant can power the equivalent of 800,000 U.S. households.

Clinton started operating in 1987, and Constellation renewed its license with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last year.

(source: Reuters)