By Timothy Gardner

(Reuters) -Meta Platforms on Tuesday said it has struck an agreement with Constellation Energy to keep one of the utility's reactors in Illinois operating for 20 years, in the Big Tech company's first such deal with a nuclear power plant.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Big Tech companies are looking to secure electricity as U.S. power demand rises for the first time in two decades on demand from artificial intelligence and data centers.

The deal will help keep open Constellation's Clinton Clean Energy Center which may have been forced to shut after the expiry in 2027 of an Illinois ratepayer-funded zero emissions credit program that awards benefits for generation of power virtually free of carbon emissions.

It depends on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission renewing the plant's license, after Constellation last year applied to renew it through 2047. Meta's power purchase will replace the Illinois support and help with re-licensing and operations.

The deal could serve as a model for Big Tech companies to support existing nuclear plants while they also plan to power data centers with new nuclear and other energy sources.

SHARE REACTION

Constellation Energy shares rose 5.7% to $330.93 in morning trading.

BY THE NUMBERS

Financial details of the deal were not revealed, but such lengthy power purchase agreements tend to run to multi-billion dollars.

The deal also allows Constellation to expand Clinton, which has a capacity of 1,121 megawatts, by 30 MW. The plant powers the equivalent of about 800,000 U.S. homes.

KEY QUOTES

Urvi Parekh, head of global energy at Meta, said: "One of the things that we hear very acutely from utilities is they want to have certainty that power plants operating today will continue to operate."

Joe Dominguez, CEO of Constellation, said, "We're definitely having conversations with other clients, not just in Illinois, but really across the country, to step in and do what Meta has done, which is essentially give us a backstop so that we could make the investments needed to re-license these assets and keep them operating."

Bobby Wendell, an official at a unit of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said the agreement will deliver a "stable work environment" for workers at the plant.

Evercore ISI analyst Nicholas Amicucci viewed the deal as "first of many" following President Donald Trump's recent executive orders aimed to boost U.S. nuclear capacity.

BIG TECH POWER DEALS

Independent power producers like Constellation have announced some of the biggest power deals in U.S. history in the last year, as AI data centers are expected to drive U.S. electricity consumption to record highs in 2025 and 2026.