By Andrew Miller
AI’s hunger for power keeps growing.
On October 6, Google announced a major new deal with Constellation Energy to bring nuclear energy to its AI data centers. Rather than fund new plants, which can take a decade to build, the deal takes advantage of existing reactors across the country.
To do this, Constellation will spend more than $4.3 billion modernizing turbines, steam generators, and control systems at facilities in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
Google isn’t the only company turning to nuclear energy.
Amazon signed a similar deal with Constellation the week before. Walmart signed one in June. Microsoft struck a deal to restart Unit 1 at Three Mile Island, the Pennsylvania plant best known for a partial meltdown in 1979. Power is expected there around 2028.
All the tech titans are lining up to revive the nuclear sector, driven largely by the power demands of their AI platforms.
The biggest concern isn’t another meltdown. It’s who ends up paying the bill.
Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas have warned that the data-center buildout is likely to raise household electricity bills, since utilities pass the cost of new plants and transmission lines on to ordinary customers.
Google’s answer is that this deal does the opposite.
The company says it is providing the guaranteed revenue Constellation needs to fund the upgrades. Doing so ensures other customers on the grid bear none of the cost.
The federal government is making the same bet.
The day before Google’s announcement, the Department of Energy committed up to $4.2 billion to modernize reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Energy Secretary Chris Wright argued that getting more out of the plants the country already has means more affordable, reliable power for families and businesses.
For now, it’s all forecast. The upgraded nuclear reactors won’t start delivering power until around 2028.
Time will tell whether your electric bill actually gets cheaper.
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