Constellation and Google Add 890 MW of Nuclear Power Using Existing Reactors

Constellation Energy and Google agreed to add 890 megawatts (MW) of new nuclear capacity at 11 existing units on the PJM grid, the largest in the U.S. power system, through a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) backed by an investment of more than $4.3 billion, according to the October 6, 2026 announcement. The deal is executed through uprates: upgrades to turbines, steam generators and digital control systems that raise output without building a reactor from scratch.

The first increment enters operation in 2028 and the rest is delivered toward 2032, according to Power Engineering. The projects are located at six sites in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including a 348 MW increase at the Limerick plant and 97 MW at Salem. The strategy responds to the U.S. federal goal of adding 5 gigawatts (GW) of carbon-free nuclear capacity by 2029 without deploying a single new reactor, an objective Google says it covers about 25% of.

The cost highlights the model's appeal. Canary Media reports that the budget equates to just over $4,800 per kilowatt, above utility-scale solar with storage and a new combined-cycle gas plant, and less than half the per-kilowatt spending Georgia Power incurred at Vogtle units 3 and 4. Nuclear capacity operates at a 92.3% capacity factor according to the Department of Energy (DOE), versus 59.9% for combined cycle and 23.4% for solar.

The move, however, competes on price: PJM anticipates retail rate increases of up to 60% by 2030 and electricity demand growing more than 5% annually for ten years across its 13-state territory. A day earlier, the DOE announced a conditional loan of up to $4.2 billion for 433 MW of uprates at Vistra plants, with Meta as the buyer. The package interests Mexico's power sector because of its effect on the North American corporate PPA market. Constellation plans to file 12 uprate regulatory applications between late 2026 and 2030.

This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.