Microsoft has announced a groundbreaking agreement with Constellation to revive the dormant Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. If approved by regulators, the tech company will have exclusive access to all the energy generated by the facility, which will be used to power its expanding AI data centers.
Constellation, the current owner of the plant, revealed the power purchase agreement earlier today. The deal could see the site back online by 2028. The reactor Microsoft plans to utilize was shut down in 2019 due to economic reasons. It sits next to the infamous unit that was decommissioned in 1979 following the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.
The plant, capable of generating 837 megawatts of electricity—enough to power over 800,000 homes—demonstrates the vast energy requirements needed for Microsoft’s AI ambitions. The facility will be renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center in honor of Chris Crane, the former CEO of Exelon, who played a significant role in the energy sector.
“This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonize the grid and meet our commitment to become carbon negative,” said Bobby Hollis, vice president of energy at Microsoft. The company aims to run its data centers on clean energy by 2025 and support expansions in locations like Chicago, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Constellation will invest $1.6 billion to bring the plant back online. The company requires approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as well as state and local permits, and is seeking to extend the plant’s operations until at least 2054.
Credit: TheVerge (Text Excluding Headline)
