Microsoft moves to restart Three Mile Island nuclear facility for data center power

• •Microsoft secured a 20-year agreement to purchase power from Constellation Energy to reopen the Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor.
• •The initiative aims to provide 835 megawatts of carbon-free electricity to support Microsoft’s expanding AI data center infrastructure.
• •The financial terms remain undisclosed, and the deal faces regulatory hurdles from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission before the 2028 restart.

Microsoft has finalized a power purchase agreement to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania to meet the energy demands of its AI operations. This deal follows a broader trend of big tech firms bypassing aging public grids to secure dedicated, high-capacity carbon-free energy sources. However, the plan depends on the approval of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the technical challenge of reviving a facility dormant since 2019 remains significant. Whether this model scales across the industry will depend on both the regulatory outcomes and the ability to maintain the plant's long-term operational costs.