Meta just saved an Illinois nuclear plant that was set to be mothballed

The 20-year deal with Constellation will slake Zuckercorp's thirst for energy to power AI datacenters

Meta has signed a 20-year deal with Constellation Energy to keep the lights on at an Illinois nuke plant that was facing an uncertain future once state subsidies dry up in 2027. 

The deal, announced today by both Meta and Constellation, will keep the Clinton Clean Energy Center operating beyond the end of Illinois' zero-emission credit program in 2027, and includes a 30MW uprate that will boost the plant's total capacity to 1,121MW, according to the pair.

Unsurprisingly, Meta said the power purchase agreement (PPA) will be used to support its growing AI energy footprint. The company told The Register that it will be applying its new nuclear bona fides to reduce its reported carbon emissions.

Constellation said the deal, of which financial details were not provided, may also include additional expansion of the Clinton facility. The energy provider said in its statement that it was "evaluating strategies" to extend an early-site permit or seek a construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the installation of an advanced nuclear reactor or small modular reactor (SMR), which are supposed to be cheaper and quicker to build. 

If Constellation moves ahead, Clinton could become only the second site in the US to host a nuclear reactor built entirely in the 21st century after Plant Vogtle in Georgia. While the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the first SMR nearly three years ago, none are currently under construction.

The Clinton plant came online in 1987 and faced early retirement in 2017 due to financial losses, until the passage of Illinois' Future Energy Jobs Act in 2016 extended its operations via a zero-emission credit (ZEC) program. That support runs through July 2027, after which Meta's 20-year power purchase agreement kicks in, securing the plant's clean energy output and replacing state subsidies.

Constellation said the PPA will keep the facility online and providing clean energy to the grid "for decades to come." 

A report commissioned by Constellation and published in March 2025 found that shuttering the Clinton plant would have led to 34 million metric tons of additional carbon pollution over 20 years - equivalent to adding an additional 7.4 million gas-powered cars to the road for one year. 

No time like the present for some new nuclear

Meta doesn't have the best track record of living up to its nuclear ambitions. Case in point, a day after it announced plans to fund between 1 and 4 gigawatts of new nuclear power, Zuckercorp turned around and said it plans to build its biggest-ever datacenter in Louisiana, powered entirely by three purpose-built natural gas turbines.

It's not as bad as Google with its multiple deals signed with next-gen nuclear companies who have yet to create a product, but dithering on a nuclear commitment isn't a great look for a company with such an aggressive AI play in motion. 

Datacenters are widely predicted to be one of the biggest drivers of increased electricity demands in the coming years as the AI revolution continues to pick up speed, with DC energy demands expected to more than double by the end of the decade. That puts US energy grids in a tight spot, and nuclear energy may be the only immediately viable solution that doesn't involve polluting the environment and speeding up the effects of climate change.

So partnering with Constellation to put its money where its energy-hungry mouth is makes sense, given that Constellation is the largest nuclear power operator in the US and also partnered with Microsoft last year to reignite the idled Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania - home of the worst commercial nuclear accident on US soil. 

Meta also said that it's continuing its push to help develop an additional 1 to 4 gigawatts of nuclear energy in the United States and is currently working through a shortlist of new nuclear projects that it could fund in a number of US states. The company said it hopes to finalize deals this year, but declined to comment on specifics of the process or how much power generation it has in its funding hopper.

Still, whatever emissions savings Meta books from the Clinton nuclear deal are unlikely to offset the climate hit from its new gas turbines in Louisiana. With a power generation capacity of 2,262 MW, those new facilities - no matter how temporary they may be - generate more than twice the output of the Clinton nuclear plant. ®