Meta basically bought a nuclear power plant

Meta signs a 20-year agreement to support Illinois Nuclear Energy Facility
Clinton Clean Energy Center was set to close in 2027
The facility provides 1,121 megawatt “emission -free nuclear energy”

Meta has revealed an agreement to support a nuclear power plant over the next 20 years in what it says is a bid to run the continued demand for AI.

Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois, owned by Constellation Energy, should be painted in 2027, but will now remain open thanks to Meta’s support.

The 20-year-old agreement will see the plant giving 1,121 megawatts of “emission-free nuclear energy” with a further step-by-30 MW capacity if necessary.

The deal marks only the second US place, hosting a nuclear reactor built entirely in this century, after Plant Vogtle, built in 2023 near Waynesboro, Georgia.

“As we have started to understand and help growing atomic energy in the United States, we have heard from the entire ecosystem that existing nuclear power plants will not be able to remain online indefinitely without partners and investments that help expand existing operating licenses and increase generational capacity,” Meta said in a statement.

“It is clear that there are many nuclear power plants serving the United States that need long -term support to help our electricity grid remain reliable as the energy needs grow.”

“Keeping an existing plant operation will have the same positive effect as adding new clean energy to the network, and avoiding the disturbance that has occurred when other nuclear devices are withdrawn too soon.”

(Image Credit: Constellation Energy)

Meta was built in 1987 and says the Clinton Clean Energy Center -Support will also maintain over 1,100 local jobs and contribute $ 13.5 million annually in tax revenue.

The plant had been closed as long ago as 2017 due to financial pressure, but Illinois adopted its future ACT ACT in 2016, which expanded its operations via a zero emission credit (ZEC) program. This was due to the expiry in 2027, but Meta’s support should now see that it works long past this.

“We are proud to cooperate with Meta because they asked the important question and even better, they figured that supporting relicensing and expansion of existing plants is as effective as finding new energy sources,” noted Joe Dominguez, president and CEO Constellation.

“Sometimes the most important part of our journey forward is to stop taking steps backwards.”

A report of March 2025, ordered by the company and carried out by the Brattle Group, claimed that the Clinton plant would have led to 34 million tonnes of additional carbon pollution over 20 years – corresponding to another 7.4 million gas -powered cars coming on the road for a year – and creating as well as Illinois’ BDP to drop with $ 765 million.

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