Constellation Energy to restart Three Mile Island nuclear plant, sell the power to Microsoft for AI

Constellation Energy plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant and will sell the power to Microsoft, demonstrating the immense power needs of the tech sector as they build out data centers to support artificial intelligence.

Constellation expects the Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island near Middletown, Pennsylvania, to come back online in 2028, subject to approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the company announced Friday. Constellation also plans to apply to extend the plant's operations to at least 2054.

Constellation stock jumped more than 9% in early trading.

Microsoft will purchase electricity from the plant to match the energy its data centers consume with carbon-free power. Constellation described the agreement with Microsoft as the largest power purchase agreement that the nuclear plant operator has ever signed.

"The decision here is the most powerful symbol of the rebirth of nuclear power as a clean and reliable energy resource," Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez told investors on a call Friday morning.

Unit 1 ceased operations in 2019 as nuclear power struggled struggled to compete economically with cheap natural gas and renewables. It is separate from the reactor that partially melted down in 1979 in the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.

Constellation will rename the plant the Crane Clean Energy Center.

Electricity demand from data centers is expected to surge in the coming decades as the tech sector ramps up artificial intelligence, threatening to strain the electric grid. While estimates vary, Goldman Sachs has forecast data centers will consume 8% of total U.S. electricity demand by 2030, compared with 3% currently.

Power demand is also surging from the expansion of domestic manufacturing