Microsoft Signs $1.6 Billion, 20-Year Deal to Revive Three Mile Island for AI Data Centers

Sep 23, 2024, 08:02 PM

Microsoft has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy to revive the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, located near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna River. The plant, which was decommissioned in 2019, is infamous for the 1979 partial meltdown, the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history. Constellation Energy will invest $1.6 billion to restart the plant, which will provide 835 megawatts of power to support Microsoft's AI data centers. The plant is expected to reopen by 2028. This move reflects the growing power needs of data centers fueled by artificial intelligence and highlights the tech industry's increasing reliance on nuclear power for stable, low-emission electricity.