Constellation Energy spikes after sealing 20-year deal to sell nuclear power to Meta for AI
On Monday, news from Meta sank ad agencies. On Tuesday, the social media giant is helping to send another industry’s stocks skyward.
Constellation Energy is surging double digits in premarket trading after striking a deal to sell nuclear power to Meta. Other AI utilities plays with nuclear exposure like Vistra are also spiking on the news.
The AI data center rollout has fueled something of a nuclear renaissance stateside because its reliability and low emissions are simpatico with the huge power demands of these computing projects. Last year, Constellation announced plans to restart the shuttered Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania to sell power to another hyperscaler: Microsoft.
Constellation’s agreement with Meta will see the Facebook owner purchase the output of power from a plant in Illinois for 20 years beginning in mid-2027, when a state subsidy that previously saved these operations lapses.
“The PPA [power purchase agreement] will enable the Clinton Clean Energy Center to continue to flow power onto the local grid, providing grid reliability and low-cost power to the region for decades to come,” per a press release from Constellation. “Meta is purchasing the plant’s clean energy attributes as part of its commitment to match 100% of its electricity use with clean and renewable energy.”
This is presumably what traders were hoping for when they bid up shares of Constellation after its disappointing earnings report in early May, following remarks from CEO Joseph Dominguez that seemed to hint that the company was closing in on more pacts to use its nuclear capabilities to power the AI boom.
The Trump administration signed an executive order in late May aimed at speeding the approval process for new reactors.
