Tech Giants Revive US Nuclear Power for Data Centers

Major technology companies are driving a resurgence of nuclear power in the United States by entering long-term contracts to support nuclear facilities, ensuring reliable electricity for expanding artificial intelligence and data center operations.

Microsoft, Amazon and Meta have signed multidecade agreements to back nuclear plants across several states, providing the stable, carbon-free energy required for continuous high-performance computing. These partnerships allow utilities to maintain and upgrade aging reactors, reversing earlier plans for retirements. For instance, Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island Unit 1, which was set for decommissioning, is now receiving corporate investment to restart operations. Similar efforts are underway at Texas's Comanche Peak plant, Iowa's Duane Arnold reactor and Illinois's Clinton Clean Energy Center.

The arrangements address surging electricity demand from data centers, which utilities describe as unprecedented. Dominion Energy reported that such facilities account for more than a quarter of power consumption in its PJM Interconnection service area, a major U.S. grid region. Nuclear power offers baseload generation that operates around the...