Google signs 20-year nuclear deal for 890 megawatts at 11 reactors

Google signed a 20-year nuclear power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy to buy 890 megawatts of electricity for its data centers, the companies announced. The deal covers 11 reactors at six sites in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and funds efficiency upgrades at existing plants rather than new construction. Constellation is the leading nuclear power plant operator in the United States.theverge.com+1

The agreement matters because it locks in long-term revenue to pay for upgrades at reactors already running, adding capacity faster than building new plants, which can take years. Over the next five years, new equipment at each site is expected to add 890 megawatts collectively — roughly what one large new reactor or three small modular reactors might generate, according to Google and Constellation. The power purchase agreement represents more than $4.3 billion of new investment by Constellation.

What the deal funds

The deal guarantees revenue needed to cover the cost of efficiency upgrades at existing nuclear plants. The companies plan to modernize 11 reactors at six sites across Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Each site connects to the PJM Interconnection grid, the largest power grid in the United States, spanning 13 states and the District of Columbia, including Loudoun County, Virginia — the nation's largest hub for data centers.

All new capacity will flow onto the PJM grid, which has struggled to meet growing demand from AI data centers. An independent market monitor filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission saying PJM planned to allow huge data centers to connect to the grid it could not reliably serve, which could lead to blackouts. In January, the Trump administration and governors of all PJM states called on PJM to hold an emergency power auction.

PJM postponed its auction after a directive from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to revise its proposal and strengthen protections against data centers raising electricity bills for other customers. Electricity rates have climbed sharply in PJM states: New Jersey prices rose 54 percent over five years. Alongside the nuclear deal, Google signed a separate 15-year energy supply agreement with Constellation covering its other plants in PJM regardless of fuel type, at 2,700 megawatts — much larger than the nuclear agreement.

Where the power flows

Nuclear power supplied 70 percent of Constellation's total generating capacity last year, with 8 percent from renewables and 22 percent from gas and oil, according to the company's latest sustainability report. Gas also accounts for the largest share of PJM's fuel mix. Google's own sustainability report shows its carbon emissions rose 18 percent last year alongside a 37 percent jump in electricity demand, as data centers drive a surge in new gas infrastructure projects across the US.channelnewsasia.com

Constellation Energy stock jumped 9 percent to $292.25 in pre-market trading after the announcement, though shares were still down 24 percent for the year through the prior close. Alphabet's stock ticked up less than 1 percent. The Google deal is Constellation's fourth major Big Tech partnership in two years, following agreements with Microsoft in 2024 to restart Three Mile Island, Meta in 2025, and Amazon last week for a Maryland plant.

How the market responded

The two companies also plan to deploy Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise to build what they call an "AI for Energy" blueprint, using artificial intelligence to cut infrastructure costs and improve grid performance. Constellation and Alphabet did not provide a financial figure for the 20-year agreement itself; the $4.3 billion figure refers to Constellation's investment in its fleet. Separately, Google signed a 3.59-gigawatt power contract with Constellation.

Black Hills Corp said it signed agreements to power a proposed Google data center in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and plans to spend $1.8 billion from 2027 to 2029 on new generation capacity. Black Hills will build 564 megawatts of new generation for the project, which is expected to draw on a 2.7-gigawatt resource mix, with power deliveries beginning in late 2027 and peak load expected in 2030.

Black Hills will supply up to 590 megawatts from the grid, mostly from a new gas plant at its Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station, and manage about 2.1 gigawatts of third-party resources in Wyoming through a privately managed microgrid. The utility expects the project to add about $150 million to its net income by 2030. The agreement requires Google to cover the full cost of supplying electricity, preventing those expenses from being passed to other customers.

Google has pursued nuclear power before. In 2025, it agreed to buy power from NextEra Energy to help restart the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa, and agreed to support upgrades at two nuclear plants run by Southern Company. Amazon has agreed to buy 690 megawatts from Constellation, and Microsoft is backing the restart of a reactor at the former Three Mile Island site, as tech firms race to secure steady power for AI data centers.