Microsoft wants Three Mile Island to fuel its AI power needs

Microsoft has signed a contract to renovate the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. If approved by regulators, the software maker will have 100 percent exclusive rights to the release for its AI data center needs.

Constellation, owner of the Three Mile Island plant, announced Power Purchase Agreement With Microsoft earlier today, 2028 should see the site back online, assuming regulators approve it.

The reactor from which Microsoft plans to draw its power was retired in 2019 for economic reasons and is located next to a unit that was shut down in 1979. America’s worst nuclear accident In history. The plant that Constellation plans to reopen could generate 837 megawatts, enough to power 800,000 homes — demonstrating the huge amount of power needed for data centers and Microsoft’s AI ambitions.

Microsoft has agreed to buy power from the plant — which has been renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center and honors the late Chris Crane, Exelon’s former CEO — for 20 years in a first-of-its-kind deal for a software company.

Microsoft’s own greenhouse gas emissions are growing with its focus on AI, putting its ambitious climate goals at risk. Bloomberg reports The nuclear power plant will help Microsoft’s data centers run on clean energy by 2025 and power data center expansion in Chicago, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

“This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonize the grid in support of our commitment to becoming carbon negative,” said Bobby Hollis, vice president of energy at Microsoft. “Microsoft continues to collaborate with energy providers to develop carbon-free energy sources to meet the grid’s capacity and reliability needs.”

Microsoft is betting on next-generation nuclear reactors to power its data center and AI projects, looking for someone who could unveil a plan for small modular reactors (SMR) last year. Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, “is a big believer that nuclear power will help us solve the climate problem.”

Constellation will invest $1.6 billion to refurbish the plant, and the company will need approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to bring the site back online, along with approvals from state and local agencies. Constellation is also pursuing license renewals to extend plant operations through at least 2054.