Taxpayers Back Unprecedented Nuclear Plant Comeback As Big Tech Seeks More Power
Three shuttered American nuclear plants are undergoing an unprecedented taxpayer-backed revival even as Big Tech is willing to pay for its own electricity.
The Department of Energy (DOE) is backing nuclear restarts in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Iowa with up to $4.4 billion in federal loans — potentially restoring enough electricity to power roughly 2 million homes and businesses, according to The Associated Press. The reactors previously shut down after becoming too expensive to operate, but soaring electricity demand from artificial intelligence data centers has given them new economic appeal.
The taxpayer-backed loans support Michigan’s Palisades Power Plant, Pennsylvania’s Crane Clean Energy Center at Three Mile Island and Iowa’s Duane Arnold Energy Center. Together, the reactors could restore approximately 2.25 gigawatts of electricity, according to the AP.
Microsoft signed a 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy to purchase electricity from Crane, which shut down in 2019. The DOE closed a $1 billion federal loan to support its reopening, with operations expected to resume in 2027.
Google is similarly partnering with NextEra Energy to reopen Iowa’s Duane Arnold plant by early 2029. The DOE closed a loan of up to $1.9 billion in September.
Google’s long-term electricity contract would prevent residential customers from shouldering the plant’s restart costs, NextEra CEO John Ketchum told the AP.
Michigan’s Palisades, meanwhile, received approximately $1.5 billion in federal financing approved under the Biden administration, which continued to roll in under President Donald Trump. Its restart encountered a setback in August when a nuclear fuel assembly tilted during loading, prompting an investigation, according to the AP.
The DOE did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
“It is possible to restore the shutdown reactors slated for restart to an adequately safe condition, but that will require time and resources,” Edwin Lyman, Director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists told the DCNF. “My concern is that in the rush to get the reactors up and running quickly and as cheaply as possible to provide power for data centers, corners are being cut. The problems Holtec is experiencing at the Palisades reactor in Michigan, including losing control of a fuel assembly during loading of the core, is a case in point.”
Congress has meanwhile pursued a broader nuclear revival. The House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced six nuclear-related bills in September addressing licensing, fuel supply and regulatory staffing.
Supporters argue that restarting existing reactors can deliver electricity faster and more cheaply than constructing new facilities. Todd Allen, a University of Michigan nuclear engineering expert, told the AP that existing infrastructure makes restoration an attractive option.
The Union of Concerned Scientists, however, raised safety concerns about reopening aging reactors.
This nuclear revival comes as America’s electricity demand threatens to outpace new power generation. Federal regulators also rejected portions of PJM Interconnection’s proposal addressing large electricity consumers during grid emergencies. PJM is the largest regional transmission organization in the U.S. and serves 13 states and Washington, D.C.
Pennsylvania regulators previously warned that the state’s grid could face more than 13 days annually when electricity supplies fall short of demand by 2030 under a high-demand scenario.
“PJM agrees with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s assessment of the current challenges facing the grid,” PJM spokesman Jeff Shields previously told the DCNF, citing electricity demand growing faster than new generation.
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