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Microsoft\u00a0just signed a deal to revive the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.\u00a0If approved by regulators, the software maker would have exclusive rights to 100 percent of the output for its AI data center needs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Constellation, the owner of the Three Mile Island plant, announced a power purchase agreement<\/a> with Microsoft earlier today, which should see the site coming back online in 2028, assuming regulators approve it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The reactor that Microsoft plans to source its energy from was retired in 2019 for economic reasons, and is located next to a unit that was shutdown in 1979 after the worst US nuclear accident<\/a> in history. The plant that Constellation\u00a0plans to reopen can generate 837 megawatts of energy, enough to power more than 800,000 homes \u2014 demonstrating the huge amount of power needed for data centers and Microsoft\u2019s AI ambitions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Microsoft has agreed to purchase power from the plant \u2014 which will be renamed to the Crane Clean Energy Center to honor the late Chris Crane, former CEO of Exelon \u2014 for 20 years in a first of its kind deal for the software giant. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Microsoft\u2019s own\u00a0greenhouse gas emissions are growing<\/a>\u00a0with its focus on AI, putting its ambitious climate goals at risk. Bloomberg <\/em>reports<\/a> that this nuclear plant would help Microsoft\u2019s plans to run its data centers on clean energy by 2025, and power data center expansions in Chicago, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft\u2019s efforts to help decarbonize the grid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative,\u201d says Bobby Hollis, vice president of energy at Microsoft. \u201cMicrosoft continues to collaborate with energy providers to develop carbon-free energy sources to help meet the grids\u2019 capacity and reliability needs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Microsoft has been betting on next-generation nuclear reactors<\/a> to power its data center and AI plans recently, looking for someone who could roll out a plan for small modular reactors (SMR) last year. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is also<\/a> a \u201cbig believer that nuclear energy can help us solve the climate problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Constellation\u00a0will invest $1.6 billion to revive the plant, and the company will need approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to bring the site back online, alongside permits from state and local agencies. Constellation\u00a0is also pursuing a license renewal to extend plant operations until at least 2054.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n