Constellation keeps momentum rolling on nuclear power restart at Three Mile Island

Say this for the owner of the once-and-future nuclear power station at Three Mile Island: They sure know how to play the public relations game.

Still more than two years out from a planned reopening of the freshly-rebranded Crane Clean Energy Center, Constellation on Wednesday threw a party for the progress made over the last year.

It was, at once:

• A way to thank workers and contractors for good work done so far — for building staff, engineering needed repairs and upgrades, and winning an expedited review by regional electrical grid monitor PJM to make sure transmission capacity exists for the addition of 835 megawatts to the grid;
• Another shot for Gov. Josh Shapiro to surround himself with Fortune 500-class executives as he tries to build a “Pennsylvania comeback” narrative for the national stage.
• A projection of inevitability about the restart to federal and state regulators and any opponents who might dare stand in its path.

“We will bring this plant on ahead of schedule and on budget,” declared Constellation CEO Joseph Dominguez, who took the never-done-before restart concept to his board last year and got the green light.

“That’s our commitment to Pennsylvania, and we’re going to fulfill that commitment.”

Of course, the deal would never have been done without a partner to buy the power.

Microsoft — “not just some small Mom and Pop company,” as Shapiro reminded Wednesday’s on-site crowd of workers and supporters — signed a 20-year commitment to buy the equivalent of all the wattage produced by the nuclear plant, guaranteeing that Constellation’s $1.6 billion investment in the restart will be profitable.

Taking his turn at the microphone, Bobby Hollis, Microsoft’s vice president for energy, called the restart a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for his company to secure a stable power supply while furthering its commitment to be carbon-negative by 2030.

Nuclear power plants like that at Three Mile Island do generate radioactive nuclear waste, but they do not create any greenhouse gas emissions.

“We knew that (with) the growth of AI and the infrastructure required to support that revolutionary new technology, we had to think very differently about finding opportunities for carbon-free energy that could scale as quickly as we could,” Hollis said.

“So we really said: ‘How do we find a place where we can move that very, very fast? Where are those really once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that we can bring back nuclear power or stand up nuclear power that can actually match the growth of our AI infrastructure?’

“And that’s what led us here… It’s a unique opportunity where we can bring together a supportive community, supportive state, and a skilled workforce that is the absolute best-kept secret ingredient for what’s going to make this plant happen faster, as we’re already seeing, and to do it safely and reliably,” Hollis said.

The financial terms of the Microsoft / Constellation deal have not been publicly disclosed.

But that paper is powering a comeback story that no one predicted in 2019, when Constellation’s corporate predecessor, Exelon, was unsuccessfully seeking a state bailout to stay open.

The plant — located on an island in the Susquehanna River in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County — had turned into a money loser.

Exelon said at that time that its operational costs meant its power could no longer compete with cheap natural gas then flooding the energy market.

Enter ChatGPT and the world of artificial intelligence.

According to a recent report by the Electric Power Research Institute, the data centers that fuel artificial intelligence and other technological innovations are expected to eat 9 percent of the United States’ power supply by 2030, which is more than twice the share they use at present.

Dominguez noted last year America’s overall electric demand is also growing again because of a variety of other factors ranging from growth in the electric vehicle market, to “on-shoring” of some manufacturing in reaction to pandemic-era supply chain issues, to the fact that many American households have, by now, wrung out a lot of the efficiencies to be gained from more modern heating systems, appliances and lightbulbs.

Constellation has targeted the plant’s reopening for 2028.

There are still many hurdles to clear.

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission must clear multiple aspects of the restart before the plant can start generating power again — most of Constellation’s needed license amendments are still being drafted.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission has to approve new water usage requirements.

And PJM has to give Constellation its final marching orders for reconnecting the idled nuclear plant to the grid.

But those things couldn’t stop Wednesday’s made-for-the-media party, which drew a reporters from local outlets, national business networks and across the world.

Constellation noted in a press release that the plant is already 64 percent staffed, with nearly 400 full-time employees on board.

It is among the 51 projects PJM selected in May for expedited interconnection studies, and the largest.

The first cohort of reactor operators has already started training; a second operator class is on deck to begin this autumn.

So things are looking real good from his perspective, Dominguez said.

“It’s just kind of amazing,” the CEO said.

“I look at all the cameras in the back and everybody’s here to see this moment that has galvanized people across the country. Environmental groups that at one time opposed nuclear, supporting it. Labor. Bipartisan politicians….

“The largest company in the world coming here and wanting to make such a huge investment in our community to power not only this great technology, but the technologies of the future… And we know you just have to watch (peak demand on) the grid for the last couple of days to know it couldn’t come at a better moment,” he continued.

“We made a mistake in shutting down this plant. But we’re not here to dwell on that mistake. We’re here to look to the future.”