BALTIMORE, Md. — Constellation Energy and Google on Oct. 6 announced a 20-year power purchase agreement to add 890 megawatts of nuclear capacity to the PJM grid through upgrades at 11 reactors in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the companies said.

Key facts

What the deal does

Constellation will modernize 11 nuclear units at six sites in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, installing new turbines, steam generators and digital control systems to add 890 megawatts of output from reactors that already exist, the companies said. The companies have not named the six sites. The 890 MW equals the output of several small modular reactors or a large new conventional reactor, the release said.

Constellation is putting up the capital. The release describes more than $4.3 billion of new investment by Constellation, with Google's 20-year purchase commitment backing Constellation's decision to invest in the upgrades. INDmoney described the spending as planned infrastructure spending, not a disclosed Google payment.

"Our agreement with Constellation to fund nuclear reactor uprates will strengthen the PJM grid, which serves 67 million people, all while protecting energy affordability and supporting local union jobs," said Amanda Peterson Corio, Google's global head of energy and power.

"Preserving and expanding the output of the existing nuclear fleet and developing new clean generation is critical to meeting our nation's growing energy needs while keeping costs affordable for homes and businesses," said Joe Dominguez, chairman, president and CEO of Constellation.

File photo: Google's data center campus in The Dalles, Oregon, in 2011.
File photo: Google's data center campus in The Dalles, Oregon, in 2011. — Photo: Visitor7

Beyond the uprates, a 15-year supply agreement covers 2,700 MW from Constellation's existing PJM fleet, and the companies expanded a five-year technology alliance built around Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise, including an "AI for energy" program for grid operations, the release said. The release says the agreement supports the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure and advances the federal UPRISE program's goal of maximizing output from existing American nuclear plants.

Constellation shares rose 12.25 percent to close at $300.40 on Oct. 6, INDmoney reported.

What it means for Northwest Indiana

The 890 MW is being added to the PJM grid, not to NIPSCO's. Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties are served by NIPSCO, which a FERC order describes as "a transmission owning member of MISO" whose system sits between PJM systems.

But NIPSCO territory faces the same load pressure. In April, NiSource announced a long-term energy agreement with an Alphabet subsidiary for a large-scale data center in Indiana. NiSource said in April that service was expected to begin in summer 2026, Intelligent CIO reported. Digital Crossroads' Hammond campus has expansion plans needing more than 200 MW, and Amazon's Wheatfield project in Jasper County pairs with two 1.3 GW gas plants at Schahfer approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in June 2026, Circle of Blue reported.

File photo: server racks in a data center in 2011.
File photo: server racks in a data center in 2011. — Photo: Abigor

On the PJM side, the July 2026 capacity auction for the 2028/2029 delivery year was the second in a row in which the region failed to procure its full reliability requirement, Data Center Frontier reported. The first reactor uprate under the Google deal is expected by 2028, and Google said the full 890 MW would be added before the end of 2032, according to Sustainability Magazine.

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