Trump backs Three Mile Island restart with $1 billion loan to Constellation
Cooling towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, October 30, 2024.
Danielle DeVries | CNBC
Trump administration will provide Constellation Energy A $1 billion loan has been awarded to restart the Crane Clean Energy Center nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, Energy Department officials said Tuesday.
The facility, formerly known as Three Mile Island Unit 1, is expected to begin generating energy again in 2027. Constellation has announced plans to rename the reactor and restart it in September 2024 through a power purchase agreement with the nuclear power plant. Microsoft To support the technology company’s data center demand in the region.
Three Mile Island Unit 1 ceased operations in 2019, one of a dozen reactors shut down in recent years as nuclear struggled to compete with cheap natural gas. It is located on the same site as Three Mile Island Unit 2, the reactor that partially melted down in the worst nuclear accident in US history in 1979.
The loan will cover most of the project’s estimated $1.6 billion cost. Initial progress on Constellation is expected in the first quarter of 2026, Greg Beard, senior advisor at the Department of Energy’s Office of Credit Programs, told reporters in a call with reporters. Beard said the loan comes with Constellation’s guarantee that it will save taxpayers’ money.
Constellation’s shares rose more than 2% in after-hours trading Tuesday.
The control panel in the main control room of the Three Mile Island Nuclear power plant is seen on October 30, 2024 in Middletown, Pennsylvania, USA
Danielle DeVries | CNBC
CEO Joe Dominguez has previously hinted at federal financial support, telling investors in September 2024 that Constellation would “look at loan guarantees and other things available as we finance the project.” Constellation is the largest nuclear power plant operator in the United States
Asked why Constellation received the loan now, Beard said Tuesday that Constellation could complete the project without assistance from the Department of Energy. But Beard said the credit will help make electricity cheaper for consumers on the grid operated by PJM Interconnection, which serves more than 65 million people in 13 states.
“What’s important for the administration is to show support for affordable, reliable and safe energy in the United States,” Beard told reporters. he said. “This loan to Constellation will lower the cost of capital and make electricity cheaper for PJM taxpayers.”
Electricity prices
Energy Minister Chris Wright said last week that his department would use most of the loan office’s money to support investment. nuclear industry. President Donald Trump signed four executive orders in May aimed at significantly expanding new nuclear capacity.
Consumers in many states in the PJM region are facing significant electricity price increases as rapid growth in demand from AI data centers exceeds available supply.
“We want to add as much net deliverable, reliable electricity to the grid as possible to stop these price increases in electricity,” Wright told reporters Tuesday. he said.
The turbine deck of the Three Mile Island Nuclear power plant is seen on October 30, 2024 in Middletown, Pennsylvania, USA
Danielle DeVries | CNBC
The Crane Clean Energy Center is one of three shuttered nuclear power plants in the U.S. that aim to start generating energy again this decade, subject to approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Crane had the capacity to power more than 800,000 homes when it closed in 2019, according to Constellation.
The Department of Energy is supporting the restart of the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan with a $1.5 billion loan to Holtec International. NextEra Energy Announced plans to restart Iowa’s Duane Arnold nuclear power plant through a deal in October AlphabetGoogle Unit.
When asked if NextEra would take credit for Duane Arnold, Beard told CNBC that Trump’s executive orders directed the Energy Department to “prioritize the restart of nuclear reactors.”
