Constellation and Google go in on nuclear uprates to unlock clean power

Constellation Energy, the country's biggest nuclear plant operator, is partnering with Google on a $4.3 billion project to squeeze more power out of 11 existing nuclear plants rather than build new ones. The work involves "uprates" — upgrading turbines, steam generators, and control systems at plants that already exist, which adds capacity faster and cheaper than building a reactor from scratch. The deal will add 890 megawatts across plants in the PJM grid region, which covers 13 states including Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Two plants are named specifically: Limerick, near Philadelphia, will gain 348 megawatts, and Salem in southern New Jersey will gain 97. The first project should finish by 2028, with the rest done in the early 2030s.

This is part of a broader push to add nuclear power without new reactors — the government wants 5 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity by 2029 this way. A similar, separate deal just gave a Constellation competitor, Vistra, a $4.2 billion federal loan to extend the life of three plants in Pennsylvania and Ohio and add 433 megawatts, with Meta buying the power. Tech companies are driving much of this because electricity demand in the PJM region is expected to climb more than 5% a year as data centers multiply, and retail power prices there could rise as much as 60% by 2030.

For homeowners in PJM states, this doesn't change anything about your house directly. It mainly signals that your region's grid is under real strain from data center growth, and utilities are racing to add power supply, nuclear and otherwise, to keep prices from rising even faster.