Meta Platforms has made good on its promise to explore the use of nuclear energy for its fleet of data centres in the United States.

Both Meta and Constellation have signed “a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for the output of the Clinton Clean Energy Center to support Meta’s clean energy goals and operations in the region with 1,121 megawatts of emissions-free nuclear energy.”

It comes after Meta in December had released a request for proposals (RFP) to identify nuclear energy developers to help it meet its AI innovation and sustainability objectives.

Nuclear deal

Meta at the time also stated it was interested in both SMRs (small modular reactors) and larger reactors. The firm currently operates 22 data centres in the United States.

The deal between Meta and Constellation will begin in June 2027, and will “expand Clinton’s clean energy output by 30 megawatts through plant uprates; preserve 1,100 high-paying local jobs; deliver $13.5 million in annual tax revenue; and add $1 million in charitable giving to local nonprofits over five years.”

“Last year, Constellation’s announced plan to restart the Crane Clean Energy Center became national news, but despite all of the interest and overwhelming support, a key question was missed: why did we let such a valuable plant close in the first place? We all know that the closure cost our community jobs, tax revenue, more pollution and higher prices,” said Joe Dominguez, president and CEO, Constellation.

“We are proud to partner with Meta because they asked that important question, and even better, they figured out that supporting the relicensing and expansion of existing plants is just as impactful as finding new sources of energy,” said Dominguez. “Sometimes the most important part of our journey forward is to stop taking steps backwards.”

“We are excited to partner with Constellation and the Clinton community to ensure the long-term operations of the nuclear plant, add new capacity, and help preserve over 1,000 jobs. Securing clean, reliable energy is necessary to continue advancing our AI ambitions,” said Urvi Parekh, Head of Global Energy at Meta. “We are proud to help keep the Clinton plant operating for years to come and demonstrate that this plant is an important piece to strengthening American leadership in energy.”

Constellation’s Clinton Clean Energy Center had actually been slated to close in 2017 after years of financial losses, despite being one of the best performing nuclear plants in Illinois.

But it was saved by the Future Energy Jobs Act in Illinois, which established a zero-emission credit program to support the plant into 2027.

The Meta agreement deal takes effect in June of 2027, which is when the state’s taxpayer funded zero-emission credit program expires.

Tech giants and nuclear

The Meta announcement comes after a string of deals signed by big name tech platforms securing nuclear energy for their data centres.

In May 2023 for example Helion Energy (the Sam Altman) backed clean energy provider, signed a deal to provide clean nuclear fusion energy to Microsoft by 2028.

Microsoft also signed a power purchase agreement in September 2024 to restart a shuttered nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island.

Then in October 2024, Alphabet’s Google signed what it called the world’s first corporate agreement to buy power from multiple small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs).

SMRs are an advanced kind of nuclear reactor with a smaller physical footprint, allowing them to be built closer to the grid.

And in May 2025 Google also revealed it is partnering with Elementl Power LLC, to develop nuclear power at three locations.

Amazon meanwhile announced last year it had also signed three agreements on developing small modular reactors (SMRs).

In May 2025 the head of Amazon’s cloud business (AWS) had called on the United Kingdom to increase its supply of nuclear energy for data centres.

It came after a report from International Energy Agency (IEA) in April had warned AI was set to drive surging electricity demand from data centres.

A Goldman Sachs report in 2024 projected US data centre power use would roughly triple from 2023 to 2030, requiring 47 gigawatts of new generation capacity.

In March 2025 a group of countries and large energy users, including some big name tech firms (including Google, Amazon, Meta Platforms), had pledged their support to a goal of ramping up nuclear capacity around the world.