Shares in Constellation Energy, the Nasdaq-listed clean power company and the largest nuclear energy producer in the United States, jumped 14% on Tuesday, pushing its market value above $100 billion, after the company unveiled a landmark long-term deal with Google.
The 20-year power purchase agreement will fund upgrades at 11 Constellation-owned nuclear units across Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, unlocking 890 megawatts (MW) of additional generating capacity, equivalent to the output of a new reactor.
Nuclear uprates
The additional power will be delivered through a process known as nuclear uprating, which extracts more generation from existing plants by upgrading turbines, steam generators and digital control systems, avoiding the multi-year construction timelines required to build new facilities.
The first increment of new capacity is expected to reach the PJM Interconnection, the wholesale electricity market serving 67 million people across 13 US states and Washington DC, by 2028.
The companies also signed a separate 15-year energy supply agreement covering an additional 2,700MW from Constellation's existing fleet, providing revenue certainty to keep those assets operating in the market.
Constellation said the collaboration represents more than $4.3 billion of investment and will sustain roughly 4,400 existing jobs across its nuclear sites while creating approximately 7,200 new construction roles during the build-out period.
AI for energy
Alongside the power deal, Constellation selected Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise, Google's enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) platform, under an expanded five-year technology alliance to build what the companies call an "AI for energy" blueprint for grid operations.
The AI tools will be applied to site selection, power flow modelling, permitting and interconnection planning to accelerate delivery of new capacity, as well as asset health monitoring to keep existing plants running at full output.
Google Cloud's security infrastructure will also be deployed to protect Constellation's operational technology networks, many of which connect directly to the bulk electricity system.
Industry model
"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," said Amanda Peterson Corio, Google's global head of energy and power in a press release.
Constellation chairman and chief executive Joe Dominguez said the collaboration could serve as a model for how technology companies and energy producers can invest in national infrastructure while delivering grid-wide benefits funded by private capital.
The deal is framed as a direct response to PJM's "Bring Your Own Power" proposal, which calls on large power consumers to add new supply to offset their rising demand rather than drawing on existing generation.
Google and Constellation also agreed a strategic framework to explore further clean energy development, storage and demand response projects across the United States, with an initial focus on opportunities within the PJM footprint.
