Google, Constellation reach 11-unit uprate plan; Constellation to invest $4.3 billion

Google has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Constellation to support adding 890 MW of new nuclear capacity to 11 reactors across the PJM Interconnection region, including in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

The announcement Tuesday is the latest in a growing number of deals involving utility companies, tech giants, and nuclear power generation. It is the second announcement in about a week involving Constellation, as the utility recently entered a long-term PPA with Amazon that will see its Calvert Cliffs power plant in Maryland get a 190-MWe uprate. Google, meanwhile, is involved with a number of nuclear projects, including a partnership with Southern Nuclear's Georgia Power, announced in September, to uprate the Vogtle and Hatch plants.

Uprates incoming: Constellation will invest more than $4.3 billion in the 11 units as part of the PPA. This work will include modernizing and upgrading turbines, steam generators, and digital control systems. It has not been announced yet which Constellation-owned units are part of the PPA, but Constellation spokesman Paul Dempsey told Nuclear News the plants involved include Braidwood, Byron, LaSalle, and Quad Cities in Illinois; Limerick in Pennsylvania; and PSEG Nuclear's Salem in New Jersey (Constellation owns 43 percent of Salem). A video Constellation posted on its Facebook page also named Braidwood as one of the selected facilities.

According to Constellation, the first uprate is "expected to be delivered by 2028." The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's list of expected uprate applications has Constellation submitting multiple applications over the next few years, including one listed for the fourth quarter of 2028. The list, however, doesn't contain any specific plant names or units for Constellation.

Both companies said the PPA aligns with the Trump administration's Ratepayer Protection Pledge and the Department of Energy's UPRISE program, and is intended to support energy growth by increasing the power output from existing nuclear facilities without passing costs on to customers.

"We're committed to meeting our growth responsibly by actively investing in clean, reliable power that brings new capacity to our nation's grids," said Amanda Peterson Corio, Google's global head of energy and power. "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."

Other details: In addition to the nuclear PPA, the two companies entered into a separate 15-year energy supply agreement for 2,700 MW of power within the PJM region.

Under an expanded five-year technology agreement, the two companies also reached an agreement on Constellation's use of Google's cloud and artificial intelligence services, including Gemini Enterprise agentic workflows. The "AI for Energy" approach would shorten engineering and regulatory work on uprates, improve construction and operation performance, and better protect critical infrastructure, according to the announcement.

This agreement is expected to sustain roughly 4,400 existing jobs and create another 7,200 new construction jobs during the building period, Google and Constellation said.

"Preserving and expanding the output of the existing nuclear fleet and developing new clean generation is critical to meeting our nation's growing energy needs while keeping costs affordable for homes and businesses," Constellation President and CEO Joe Dominguez said in a statement. "This long-term clean energy collaboration with Google can serve as a model for how technology companies and the energy industry can work together to responsibly develop the digital economy and invest in our nation's energy infrastructure in a way that delivers grid-wide benefits for all, funded by private entities."