Google has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation, the leading nuclear power plant operator in the US, to help fund efficiency upgrades at six existing nuclear sites. The deal is intended to guarantee the revenue Constellation needs to cover the cost of those upgrades, and the company said it represents more than $4.3 billion of new investment. Google is pursuing the agreement as it seeks more electricity for its power-hungry data centers.
Over the next five years, the two companies expect new equipment at each site to add 890 megawatts of nuclear capacity in total. Google and Constellation said that amount is roughly equivalent to the output of one large new nuclear reactor or three small modular reactors. The plan covers modernization of 11 reactors at six sites located in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
Each of those sites is connected to the PJM Interconnection grid, the largest power grid in the US, which spans 13 states and the District of Columbia. That territory includes Loudoun County, Virginia, the nation's largest hub for data centers. PJM has struggled recently to meet growing demand from AI data centers. An independent market monitor filed a complaint last year with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, saying PJM planned to let huge data centers connect to the grid that it could not reliably serve, which could lead to blackouts.
In January, the Trump administration and governors from all of the states where PJM operates issued a joint statement calling on PJM to hold an emergency power auction to support the buildout of new power plants through long-term contracts. PJM postponed its auction last week after FERC directed it to revise its proposal to ensure stronger protections preventing data centers from raising electricity bills for other customers. Electricity rates have skyrocketed in states connected to PJM, including New Jersey, where prices have climbed 54 percent over five years.
Along with the nuclear deal, Google signed a separate and much larger 15-year energy supply agreement with Constellation. That agreement is meant to guarantee continued revenue for other existing power plants Constellation operates within PJM, regardless of fuel type. At 2,700MW, the second deal is much larger than the nuclear power purchase agreement.
Nuclear energy made up 70 percent of Constellation's total generating capacity last year, while another 8 percent came from renewables. Gas and oil made up the remaining 22 percent, according to the company's latest sustainability report. Gas also accounts for the largest chunk of PJM's fuel mix.
Data centers are driving a surge in new gas infrastructure projects in the US, moving many tech companies further from their sustainability goals. Google's carbon emissions rose by 18 percent last year along with a jump in electricity demand of 37 percent, according to the company's latest sustainability report.
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