Google and Constellation Energy have entered into a long-term clean energy agreement designed to add 890 megawatts of new nuclear generating capacity to the PJM Interconnection grid, supported by more than $4.3 billion of planned investment by Constellation.
The companies signed a 20-year power purchase agreement that will support equipment and technology upgrades across 11 Constellation-owned nuclear units in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Rather than constructing entirely new nuclear plants, the companies plan to increase thermal and electrical efficiency at existing facilities through nuclear uprates.
The upgrades are expected to include improvements to equipment such as turbines, steam generators and digital control systems.
Constellation said the resulting 890 MW represents entirely new generating capacity that will increase the amount of electricity available across the PJM system.
The additional capacity is comparable to the output of several small modular reactors or one large conventional nuclear reactor.
The first uprate is expected to begin delivering additional power by 2028.
PJM serves approximately 67 million people across a large portion of the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, where electricity demand is increasing due to manufacturing, industrial electrification, data centers and other digital infrastructure.
Google is supporting the nuclear upgrades as part of its strategy to bring additional reliable electricity onto the grid alongside growth in its own power requirements.
The companies said the structure is intended to add new supply without shifting the cost of Google’s growth onto residential electricity customers.
The agreement aligns with PJM’s proposed “Bring Your Own Power” approach, under which major electricity users can help finance additional generation to accompany increasing demand.
Google and Constellation said their approach also aligns with the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge.
Beyond the 890 MW expansion, Google and Constellation entered into a separate 15-year energy supply agreement covering another 2,700 MW of generation from Constellation’s existing PJM fleet.
That arrangement is intended to provide long-term revenue certainty for operating generation assets while keeping the electricity and capacity available to the broader PJM market.
The companies also plan to incorporate demand flexibility into the relationship.
Operational load-shaping and demand-response capabilities will allow non-critical electricity usage to be reduced during periods when the grid is experiencing significant stress.
The overall agreement represents more than $4.3 billion of new investment from Constellation across six nuclear sites in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The companies estimate the projects will help sustain approximately 4,400 existing jobs.
Another approximately 7,200 construction jobs are expected to be created during the building and upgrade period.
The nuclear uprate strategy is also intended to advance the objectives of the federal government’s UPRISE program, which encourages public-private investment aimed at increasing electricity production from existing U.S. nuclear infrastructure.
Google and Constellation are extending the relationship beyond energy procurement through an expanded five-year technology alliance involving Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise.
Constellation plans to build Gemini Enterprise agentic workflows directly into its operations as part of what the companies are calling an “AI for energy” blueprint.
The initial technology effort will focus on three areas: accelerating new power capacity, optimizing generation assets and strengthening critical infrastructure protection.
For capacity development, AI will be applied to areas including site selection, power-flow modeling, permitting and interconnection planning.
The companies believe those capabilities can shorten engineering and regulatory processes associated with nuclear uprates, helping new generation reach the grid faster and at a lower cost.
AI will also be used for asset health monitoring, outage and turnaround management and construction scenario optimization.
Those applications are intended to improve plant availability and increase the ability of existing facilities to maintain full generation output.
Google Cloud technology will additionally be used to support cybersecurity for operational technology networks connected to the bulk electric system.
Some of those networks are air-gapped and operate within highly regulated environments.
The companies said strengthening those systems will help protect the reliability and resilience of infrastructure used by homes and businesses.
Google and Constellation have also established a strategic framework to evaluate additional clean generation, energy storage and demand-response projects across the U.S.
Near-term activity under that framework will primarily focus on opportunities within PJM.
The partners plan to explore potential projects, financing and commercial structures and policy approaches capable of supporting additional clean energy technologies as Google’s operations expand.
Constellation operates approximately 55 GW of generation capacity across nuclear, natural gas, oil, geothermal, hydroelectric, wind and solar facilities.
The company is the largest U.S. nuclear energy operator and provides electricity and related services to approximately 2.5 million customer accounts.
The Google transaction follows other recent clean energy agreements by Constellation, including a 20-year agreement announced with Amazon in September to add 190 MW of nuclear capacity at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear facility.
KEY QUOTES:
“We’re committed to meeting our growth responsibly by actively investing in clean, reliable power that brings new capacity to our nation’s grids. 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.”
Amanda Peterson Corio, Global Head of Energy and Power at Google
“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. This long-term clean energy collaboration with Google can serve as a model for how technology companies and the energy industry can work together to responsibly develop the digital economy and invest in our nation’s energy infrastructure in a way that delivers grid-wide benefits for all, funded by private entities.”
Joe Dominguez, Chairman, President and CEO of Constellation
