The US Department of Energy has offered Constellation Energy up to $5 billion in loans to expand nuclear output by 1.1 gigawatts across eight plants, TechCrunch reports. It is a conditional commitment that has not been finalised.
The money would fund uprates, which raise the capacity of existing reactors, often with more highly enriched uranium and upgraded equipment, at 11 reactors. No new reactor is being built. Six of the plants are in Illinois: Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, La Salle and Quad Cities. The others are Calvert Cliffs in Maryland and Limerick in Pennsylvania.
Most or all of the extra power from seven of the eight is already bought by Google, Meta or Amazon. Google is the confirmed buyer for Limerick and four Illinois plants, Amazon takes Calvert Cliffs under a 20-year agreement, and Meta is effectively buying all of Clinton.
Constellation has already committed more than $7 billion to add 1,080 megawatts for those three companies. It says the loan could lower financing costs for the projects.
The department framed the loan as supporting affordable, reliable power for American homes and businesses. TechCrunch found no evidence the new capacity will lower residential electricity prices, and Constellation would not confirm the government’s claim. Its own announcement does not say whether the projects will hold or lower rates.
Cheaper capital for the upgrades could benefit Constellation, the hyperscalers or both. Nothing in the announcement says how much of that saving reaches customers who are not buying the power for a data centre.
