Constellation and Google Sign a 20-Year Deal to Add 890 Megawatts of Nuclear Power

Constellation Energy rose 3.9% on Monday, closing at $267.62, as nuclear-power stocks extended a rally built on the technology industry’s hunger for electricity. Its own news came after the close. That evening, reports placed Constellation near a nuclear-supply agreement with Google. On Tuesday the two made it official: a 20-year deal to bring 890 megawatts of new nuclear capacity onto the PJM grid, the 13-state network that carries power across the mid-Atlantic and parts of the Midwest.

A $4.3 billion upgrade to eleven reactors

The new power will not come from a new plant. Constellation plans to draw it from upgrades at 11 reactors it already owns in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, raising their efficiency to pull more electricity from the same fuel. The company put the spending at more than $4.3 billion and said the first uprate should be delivered by 2028. Google agreed to buy that output under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The companies layered on more. A separate 15-year contract covers 2,700 megawatts from Constellation’s existing fleet, which lifts the combined commitment to roughly 3.6 gigawatts, and a five-year technology arrangement centered on Google’s cloud and AI software rounds it out. Constellation said the construction would create about 7,200 jobs and help sustain some 4,400 existing ones. Joe Dominguez, its chairman and chief executive, cast the tie-up as a template for how power producers and technology firms can build together.

Amazon, Microsoft and Meta got there first

The agreement fits a pattern Constellation has been building for a year. The draw each time is artificial intelligence. Its data centers run on power that never stops, and reactors run without pause. The company operates the largest nuclear fleet in the United States, and it has been selling that output forward to the biggest buyers in computing. It is restarting a reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania for Microsoft, and it has pledged power from its Clinton station in Illinois to Meta. Last week it signed a 20-year, 690-megawatt agreement with Amazon tied to an expansion of its Calvert Cliffs plant in Maryland.

Still 10% below its summer high

Monday’s gain landed on an uneven chart. Constellation has fallen about 6% over the past 30 days, and even after the advance it trades 10.5% below its 90-day high of $299.05, while holding 13.2% above the 90-day low of $236.50. Volume on Monday ran to 1.2 times the 20-day average, a busier tape than usual but not a spike. Power producers linked to data-center demand climbed sharply earlier in the year, then surrendered part of the move.

The first uprate is due by 2028

The nearest marker is 2028. Constellation has set that as the target for its first efficiency upgrade, with the rest of the 890 megawatts arriving over the 20-year term and the 2,700-megawatt supply deal running for 15 years. Whether the pledged capacity reaches the grid on time is the open question, because every megawatt here depends on work not yet done. For now, the contracts are signed and the money is committed.

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