Constellation Strikes 20-Year Amazon Deal to Expand a Maryland Nuclear Plant

Constellation Energy fell 4% on Wednesday, closing at $254.02. After the bell, the picture changed. The company said it had signed a 20-year agreement to supply Amazon with electricity from an expanded nuclear plant in Maryland, and the shares moved higher in extended trading. The stock had been sliding for weeks.

A 190-megawatt uprate at Calvert Cliffs

Under the agreement, Constellation will add 190 megawatts of capacity at the Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center in Lusby, Maryland, lifting the two-reactor station from 1,790 to 1,980 megawatts. That new output is scheduled to come online between 2030 and 2032. In all, the contract commits Amazon to 690 megawatts of power from the site, the running plant plus the uprate, and underpins more than $3 billion in Maryland infrastructure investment, the company said.

An uprate raises output from reactors already running, which can add capacity faster than new construction. Calvert Cliffs is a large piece of the state’s grid. Its two reactors generate enough electricity for more than a million homes.

The term does more than sell power. Constellation said the revenue certainty lets it move to relicense Calvert Cliffs for another two decades; its reactors are currently licensed through 2034 and 2036. The plant supplies close to 80% of Maryland’s clean electricity and about 40% of the state’s total generation. Chairman and chief executive Joe Dominguez cast the arrangement as private investment reinforcing critical energy infrastructure. Kerry Person, a vice president at Amazon Web Services, tied it to the company’s push for carbon-free power in the communities where it operates.

Hyperscalers keep locking in nuclear supply

Constellation runs the largest fleet of nuclear reactors in the United States. The Amazon contract adds to a run of long-term deals between nuclear operators and large technology buyers. Constellation is restarting a reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania under a long-term agreement with Microsoft, and it has committed power from its Clinton plant in Illinois to Meta. The Amazon deal widens that roster of corporate buyers. The pull is artificial-intelligence computing, which needs steady power day and night. Nuclear plants supply exactly that.

Down 16% from its 90-day high

The one-day drop fits a longer retreat. The prior session had closed at $264.58. Constellation has slipped about 8% over the past 30 days and trades about 16% below its 90-day high of $301.57, while holding about 7% above the 90-day low of $236.50. Wednesday’s volume ran to 1.5 times the 20-day average, a heavier tape than usual. Power producers linked to data-center electricity demand climbed hard earlier in the year, and several have cooled since.

New capacity in 2030, relicensing beyond 2036

Timing is the first thing to track. Constellation has said the added 190 megawatts should arrive between 2030 and 2032. The company also pointed to relicensing Calvert Cliffs, whose units are cleared to run through 2034 and 2036, and to early study of as much as 2,000 megawatts of next-generation nuclear at the site. Those are planning markers, not commitments on fixed dates.

This is a general-market summary for information only — not investment advice, and not a recommendation regarding any security.