Constellation shares gain on 20-year nuclear power deal with Google

Investing.com -- Constellation Energy shares are trading about 5% higher in pre-market on Tuesday after the company announced a 20-year power purchase agreement with Google to add 890 megawatts of new nuclear capacity to the PJM Interconnection grid.

The agreement will fund investments in new equipment and technology at 11 Constellation-owned nuclear units in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The upgrades will increase thermal and electrical efficiency to unlock additional power for the grid. The capacity represents new generation that will expand total electricity available across the PJM footprint.

The deal will help sustain roughly 4,400 existing jobs and create approximately 7,200 new construction jobs during the building period. Constellation will invest more than $4.3 billion under the agreement.

The companies also entered into a 15-year energy supply agreement for an additional 2,700 megawatts in PJM's fleet. This structure ensures that Constellation's operating generation assets continue to deliver energy and capacity to the PJM market.

Constellation selected Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise under an expanded five-year technology alliance to establish an "AI for energy" blueprint. The goal is to accelerate capacity delivery, optimize asset dispatch, and protect critical infrastructure.

"We're committed to meeting our growth responsibly by actively investing in clean, reliable power that brings new capacity to our nation's grids," stated Amanda Peterson Corio, global head of energy and power at Google. "Our agreement with Constellation to fund nuclear reactor uprates will strengthen the PJM grid, which serves 67 million people, all while protecting energy affordability and supporting local union jobs."

The 890 megawatts of incremental capacity equals the output of several Small Modular Reactors or a large new conventional reactor. The initiative advances the goals of the federal government's UPRISE program, which encourages public-private collaboration to maximize clean electricity output from existing American nuclear infrastructure.

"Preserving and expanding the output of the existing nuclear fleet and developing new clean generation is critical to meeting our nation's growing energy needs while keeping costs affordable for homes and businesses," said Joe Dominguez, chairman, president and CEO of Constellation.

The first uprate under the agreement is expected to be delivered by 2028. The deal includes demand flexibility integration to curtail non-critical power consumption during high-stress grid events.

Original Article

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