Constellation, which operates the largest nuclear fleet in the U.S., is working with data center customers on potential co-location deals, Dominguez said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call this week.

Data centers project to be significant drivers of growth in electricity demand. According to a study recently released by EPRI, data centers could consume up to 9% of U.S. electricity generation by 2030 — more than double the amount currently used.

“The simple fact is that data centers are coming, and they’re essential to America’s national security and economic competitiveness,” said Dominguez.

The rapidly growing data center industry has sparked an active and even divisive discussion among policymakers and stakeholders about how to powering them.

Notably, Exelon and American Electric Power (AEP) are protesting a proposal that would result in the co-location of an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center at Talen Energy’s Susquehanna nuclear plant in northeast Pennsylvania.

In a filing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last month, the parties said the proposed Interconnection Service Agreement (ISA) raises unresolved questions and could result in unfair cost burdens on ratepayers and negatively impact market operations and reliability.

FERC is now seeking more information about the amended ISA. Last week the federal agency called for a technical conference in the fall to discuss co-locating large loads like data centers with generators.

Constellation (a former Exelon entity) believes co-location allows significant new load to be served without requiring expensive system upgrades, especially when grid operators are struggling to integrate new resources faster.

“Friday’s actions at FERC may have slowed things, but ultimately will be constructive in our view,” said Dominguez on the investor call. “We think the benefits [of co-location] are compelling.”

In terms of any co-location deals of its own, Dominguez said Constellation wouldn’t be timebound by any FERC rulemaking on the Talen ISA. He did acknowledge a tightening in the market and more urgency for participants to lock up supply.

“We independently are working on contractual provisions that will allow us to manage whatever outcome comes out of those proceedings,” he said.

Dominguez noted PJM Interconnection’s latest capacity auction, which saw energy prices skyrocket more than 800%. Insufficient future transmission planning, the retirement of fossil-fired generation, long interconnection queues and the implementation of FERC market reforms are all contributing to the hikes.

The auction sends a build signal to generators, but Dominguez said nuclear power specifically could emerge a winner from PJM’s skyrocketing prices. Constellation operates eight nuclear plants (16 reactors) in PJM territory.

“We expect to see higher sustained pricing for capacity to address reliability needs and send more accurate price signals to retain, operate and relicense our plants,” he said.

Meanwhile, PJM utilities have now identified at least 50 GW of expected data center load growth, Dominguez reported.

He said despite disagreement on the vehicle to power data centers, there is a great opportunity for Constellation to work with utilities to bring both grid-connected and co-located projects along.

“We’re still fairly early innings in terms of understanding all of the different use cases and how our resources will interact with the grid,” he said.

The Midwest Nuclear DAC Hub (MINDAC), which officially started on May 1, is one of only two DAC hubs located in the region. It is also one of two hubs with plans to use nuclear energy to power air handling units that remove CO2 from the atmosphere. The regional DAC hubs are backed with $100 million in DOE investments.

Northwestern is collaborating with various partners, including RepAir, Constellation Energy, Siemens and LanzaTech. The feasibility evaluation of the hub is expected to last two years.

We asked which one of Constellation’s Illinois nuclear plants will be used to power the DAC process in the MINDAC hub. A spokesperson with Northwestern told us, “This is an exploratory stage of the hub where we evaluate the feasibility of different sites for providing power to the hub.” 

We previously reported that Constellation and several partners will receive $2.5 million in DOE funding to study DAC technology at the company’s Byron nuclear plant in Northern Illinois.

Direct air capture (DAC) technologies extract CO2 directly from the atmosphere at any location after which the carbon can be stored in geological foundations or used in a variety of applications such as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuels.

Direct air capture, with its fans, pumps, compressors, water cooling systems and air separation units, is an energy-intensive process that leads to high costs.

However, a 2023 DOE study found that advanced nuclear reactors could reduce the cost of certain DAC methods by up to 13% compared to non-nuclear systems.

Researchers assessed three advanced reactor types in combination with low-temperature solid sorbent and high-temperature liquid solvent direct air capture systems, comparing them to fossil fuel-powered alternatives.

The reactors evaluated were an advanced pressurized water reactor, a sodium-cooled fast reactor and a very high temperature reactor.

Researchers found the continuous and carbon-free output from nuclear reactors would benefit direct air capture, reducing costs by up to 13% for solid systems and up to 7% for liquid systems.

Constellation is now one of three owners of the plant, joining Texas municipal utilities Austin Energy (16%) and CPS Energy (40%). The South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC) will continue to operate the plant.

The $1.75 deal faced strong opposition from Austin Energy and CPS Energy, which serves San Antonio. CPS Energy has filed litigation claiming right of first refusal to the plant, which Austin Energy has intervened in.

The muni utilities also told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in July STPNOC did not have approval to submit an application to NRC related to the sale.

But the parties closed the transaction Nov. 1.

“The ongoing legal proceeding did not prohibit NRG and [Constellation] from consummating the transaction, and Constellation is working with all parties to reach a resolution to the matter,” Constellation Energy said in a Nov. 1 SEC filing.

The South Texas Plant includes two pressurized water reactors which came online in 1988 and 1989, respectively.

The agreement means ComEd will be able to power its facilities with 100 percent clean energy produced at the same time and place it is consumed, in a ‘first’ for an investor-owned U.S. utility.

The ComEd agreement follows a similar hourly-matching agreement between Constellation and Microsoft to power one of the latter’s Virginia data centers with nearly 100 percent nuclear energy. In 2022, Constellation and Microsoft developed a analytics-based software solution to help companies match their energy use every hour of the day with locally produced carbon-free electricity, with Microsoft becoming the first customer to use the technology.

Many organizations aiming for net-zero emissions currently purchase annual renewable energy certificates (RECs), representing clean energy generated by solar or wind facilities within the U.S. over a year. However, this approach often means energy comes from distant locations and times, even though operations are nearby.

In 2021, the White House issued an Executive Order recognizing the significance of hourly carbon-free energy matching in achieving clean energy goals. The order directed federal agencies to collaborate to ensure that 50% of all federal buildings use hourly matching with clean energy by 2030.

“Matching clean energy production to the time and place a customer uses it is the only way we will truly achieve zero carbon emissions across our economy,” said Joe Dominguez, President and CEO of Constellation.

Chicago-headquartered ComEd’s hourly purchase of carbon-free energy will match its expected electricity consumption of approximately 65,000 megawatt-hours. This consumption includes the company’s corporate and regional headquarters, reporting centers, business offices, training facilities, special-use facilities and substations.

One of Microsoft’s data centers in Boydton, Virginia will be powered by up to 35 percent nuclear energy, under a new agreement with Constellation.

The nuclear power will complement Microsoft’s new wind and solar purchases and bring the data center to operating at close to 100 percent carbon-free electricity around the clock.

Microsoft will track its environmental performance using Constellation’s hourly carbon-free energy matching platform. Constellation’s Microsoft Azure-based hourly matching software is a relatively new offering for customers looking to match their power demands with regional carbon-free energy around the clock.

Prior to the evolution of hourly matching, much of the clean energy that American companies procured to reduce their use of generation from fossil fuels was produced elsewhere, at a different time of day, month or even year. This approach offered no guarantee that clean, carbon-free power was being used.

The companies said Constellation and Microsoft had been working collaboratively for several years to pioneer the hourly emissions accounting technology.

“Our collaboration with Constellation makes real-time matching of regional clean power generation and demand available to all companies that want to advance the energy transition,” said Adrian Anderson, general manager of renewable and carbon free energy at Microsoft.

Over the course of this fleetwide project, Constellation said repowering efforts will enable 315 MW of its existing wind fleet to generate greater output at the same wind conditions. Constellation operates 27 wind projects that can produce about 1,400 MW of electricity.

Construction at Criterion Wind is underway with the installation of new, high-efficiency rotors, turbine blades and generators at the 28-unit site. The older turbine blades and equipment will be recycled. The power generated at the wind project will continue to be sold to Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC). The project is expected to be completed before year end.

Located in Oakland, Maryland, the 70 MW Criterion wind farm began operating in 2010.

The transaction will be financed with a combination of cash and debt and is valued at $1.75 billion, with an effective purchase price of $1.4 billion after taking into consideration the present value of tax benefits to Constellation.

After the transaction, Constellation will be one of three plant owners, joining municipal utilities Austin Energy and CPS Energy (serving San Antonio). The South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC) will continue to operate the plant. The transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of 2023.

“With the potential to run for at least 46 more years with the right policy support, we look forward to working with the South Texas Project’s other owners to continue bringing clean, reliable electricity to this growing region for decades to come,” said Joe Dominguez, president and CEO of Constellation.

Constellation already operates the largest fleet of nuclear plants in the United States. The company has ownership interests in 13 generating stations, with 23 nuclear units capable of producing approximately 21,000 MW of electricity, enough energy to power approximately 15 million homes.

Constellation said the 38 percent mark nearly doubled the previous blending record for similar generators. The blending test at Hillabee occurred May 18 on a Siemens Energy SGT6-6000G gas turbine.

Constellation said only “minor modifications” were required for the blending test. The company said it added an inlet for the hydrogen to be blended, a control valve and calibrated instrument to measure fuel flow.

The company said nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions did not increase during this blending test.

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released new rules aimed at reducing carbon emissions from the electric sector, citing hydrogen co-firing as a primary technology to help decarbonize the U.S. power sector and achieve the nation’s climate goals.

Constellation said it will use the results from this test to inform its plans for transitioning its natural gas facilities to carbon-free technology in the coming years. The company has a large nuclear fleet and produces nearly 90 percent of its energy from carbon-free sources, with a goal of achieving 100 percent carbon-free electricity generation by 2040.

Hillabee Generating Station is a three-unit plant that began operating in 2010. The plant is fitted with Selective Catalytic Reduction technology, which significantly reduces nitrogen oxide emissions.

The utility said that the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 caused it to examine nuclear uprate opportunities that were cancelled a decade ago due to market forces. It said the 45Y tax credit for the production of new carbon-free electricity “helps make these investments economic.”

The Braidwood and Byron projects are expected to replace the main turbines at the two facilities with high efficiency units. Constellation said increased output could be available as early as 2026, with the full uprated output available by 2029. Work is expected to occur in stages during scheduled refueling outages.

Earlier in February, Constellation said it planned to allocate around $1.5 billion over the next three years for upgrade investment including nuclear uprates, wind repowering and hydrogen. 

Constellation is the largest owner and operator of nuke plants in the U.S. In October the utility said it plan to ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to extend the operating licenses of its Clinton and Dresden nuclear plants in Illinois by an additional 20 years.

Allied Power will continue to provide maintenance at 12 Constellation nuclear plants through mid-August 2028, per an extension signed by the companies. The new agreement includes staff augmentation and has an option for a five-year renewal.

The 12 plants are located in Illinois, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania.

Allied Power provides a range of services, from routine maintenance to outage services and management, capital construction and specialized support – for power plants throughout the U.S.

Constellation is the largest owner and operator of nuke plants in the U.S. In October 2022 we reported the Exelon spinoff plans to ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to extend the operating licenses of its Clinton and Dresden nuclear plants in Illinois by an additional 20 years.

If approved by the NRC, Clinton could operate until 2047 and Dresden could operate until 2049 (Unit 2) and 2051 (Unit 3).