Google Turns to Nuclear to Fuel AI Energy Surge
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
The tech giant is investing billions in nuclear upgrades as data center demand threatens the stability of the U.S. power grid.
Google has entered into a 20-year agreement with Constellation, the leading nuclear power plant operator in the U.S., to fund efficiency upgrades at six nuclear power plant sites, as The Verge first reported. According to the reporting, the power purchase agreement will facilitate more than $4.3 billion in new investment by Constellation to modernize 11 reactors across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
Over the next five years, Google and Constellation expect these upgrades to generate 890 megawatts of additional nuclear capacity. This move comes as Google's electricity demand jumped 37 percent last year, contributing to an 18 percent increase in the company's carbon emissions, as detailed in Google's latest sustainability report.
The investment targets plants connected to the PJM Interconnection grid, the largest power grid in the U.S. The Verge reports that PJM has struggled to keep pace with the energy demands of AI data centers. Last year, an independent market monitor warned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that PJM's plan to connect massive data centers to a grid it could not reliably serve risked causing blackouts. These pressures have already impacted consumers; for example, electricity rates in New Jersey have risen 54 percent over five years.
While the nuclear deal is significant, Google also signed a larger 15-year energy supply agreement with Constellation for 2,700MW of power from various plant types. Constellation's own sustainability report notes that while nuclear makes up 70 percent of its capacity, gas and oil account for 22 percent. Gas currently represents the largest portion of the PJM fuel mix.