Google signs for 3.6 gigawatts of Constellation power, including 890 MW of new nuclear

On Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, Google and Constellation Energy announced a 20-year deal for 890 megawatts of new nuclear capacity on PJM, the biggest U.S. power grid, plus a separate 15-year agreement for another 2,700 megawatts. Constellation also picked Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise to help run its nuclear plants.

AI data centers need huge amounts of power that never switches off, and the biggest U.S. grid, serving 67 million people, is running short. Instead of waiting a decade for brand-new reactors, Google is paying to get more out of plants that already exist, which is the fastest real option on the table. I like that it adds new supply instead of just grabbing power other customers already use. But the timeline matters: none of this new nuclear arrives before 2028, and the full amount not until 2032, so it doesn't solve the crunch AI is creating right now.

On Tuesday, 6 October 2026, Google and Constellation Energy announced a 20-year power purchase agreement for 890 megawatts of new nuclear capacity on the PJM Interconnection. A power purchase agreement is a contract to buy electricity for a set number of years. A megawatt is a measure of how much power a plant can put out at one moment. 890 megawatts is a large block of power that stays on. PJM is the biggest U.S. power grid. Google says it spans 13 states in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest and serves 67 million people. The dateline on Constellation's announcement is Baltimore and Mountain View, California. Those lines are the companies'.

The new power comes from uprates, not from a reactor built from scratch. An uprate means upgrading a plant that already runs so it produces more electricity. Constellation will upgrade turbines, steam generators, and digital controls at 11 existing reactor units, at six plants in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Turbines and steam generators are the machines that turn a reactor's heat into electricity. Digital controls are the computers that run the plant. Constellation says this capacity is new. It adds electricity the grid did not have, rather than taking a share of power other customers already use. Those lines are the companies'.

The timing, as the companies state it. The first uprate is expected by 2028. Google says all 890 megawatts arrive before the end of 2032. Google says that is roughly the output of one new large reactor, and that it happens years faster than building one. Those lines are Google's and Constellation's. Neither announcement says any of this new nuclear is on the grid today.

What Constellation is spending, and the jobs the companies name. Constellation will make more than $4.3 billion of new investment. The companies say the deal sustains about 4,400 existing jobs and creates about 7,200 construction jobs. Utility Dive calls those construction jobs temporary. The dollar figure and the job counts are the companies'. The pages do not say the money has already been spent, and they do not say the construction jobs have already been filled.

A second contract, separate from the uprates. Google signed a 15-year supply agreement for another 2,700 megawatts from Constellation's plants on PJM. Constellation says that deal gives its operating plants long-term revenue certainty, and that those plants keep selling energy and capacity into the PJM market rather than leaving the grid. Reuters reports that this 2,700 megawatts is not tied to a specific plant, and Reuters attributes that line to Google. Add the two contracts and the total is 3,590 megawatts. A gigawatt is 1,000 megawatts, so 3,590 megawatts is 3.59 gigawatts. Reuters headlines that as 3.6 gigawatts. The 3,590 figure is Reuters'. The 890 and the 2,700 are the companies'.

Constellation also chose Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise in an expanded five-year technology deal. Gemini Enterprise is Google's AI product for companies. The companies say Constellation will use it to speed up new capacity, run its plants, and protect the equipment that keeps the grid up. Constellation names three jobs for the software. One is picking sites and planning grid connections so the extra power arrives sooner. One is watching plant equipment and outages so the reactors stay at full output. One is securing the networks that run the plants. Those lines are the companies'.

Google says the agreement brings the new nuclear capacity it has helped add to the U.S. grid, from uprates and from restarts of plants that had been shut, to more than 1.5 gigawatts. Google also says it is adding that capacity at no cost to other ratepayers. A ratepayer is a household or a business that pays an electric bill. Google's line is that other customers do not pay for these upgrades. Those sentences are Google's.

The companies call the deal a response to PJM's proposal that big new users, such as data centers, bring their own power. Reuters describes that proposal this way: data centers on the 13-state grid would bring their own power, or face being shut off from grid power remotely when demand peaks. Constellation says the agreement is a model for adding supply alongside that growth, without a state or federal mandate, and that private companies fund it rather than passing the cost on to households. Those lines are the companies' and Reuters'.

What Utility Dive adds from outside the two companies. It says PJM is short about 6.8 gigawatts of new capacity. It also says Constellation signed a similar 20-year deal with Amazon the week before, announced on 30 September 2026. Utility Dive calls that a 690-megawatt deal centered on a $3 billion expansion that adds 190 megawatts at the Calvert Cliffs plant in Maryland, with that new capacity expected between 2030 and 2032. Those figures are Utility Dive's account of the Amazon deal. They are not part of Tuesday's Google contract.

Who said what. Amanda Peterson Corio, whom Constellation's announcement calls Google's global head of energy and power, said Google is investing in clean, reliable power that brings new capacity to the grid. She said the uprates will strengthen the PJM grid, which serves 67 million people, while protecting energy affordability and supporting local union jobs. Google's own post calls her global head of data center energy. Joe Dominguez, Constellation's chairman, president, and chief executive, said keeping and expanding the existing nuclear fleet is how the country meets growing demand while keeping costs affordable for homes and businesses. He called the collaboration a model for technology companies and power companies to invest in the grid with private money, in a way that benefits the whole grid. Those quotations are theirs, on Constellation's announcement.

The picture is an aerial view of Constellation's Braidwood nuclear plant in Illinois, with the Google and Constellation logos on the frame. It is the image from Google's announcement. It is not a photograph of a data center, and it does not show the contract.

In plain terms, Google on Tuesday agreed to buy 890 megawatts of new nuclear power for 20 years, from upgrades at 11 Constellation reactors that already run in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Constellation is putting more than $4.3 billion into those upgrades. The first extra power is expected in 2028, and Google says the full 890 megawatts arrives before the end of 2032. A separate 15-year contract covers another 2,700 megawatts from Constellation's PJM fleet. Together that is 3,590 megawatts. Constellation will also use Google's cloud and AI tools to plan the work, run the plants, and protect the equipment. Google says other customers do not pay for the new capacity. None of the new nuclear is available before 2028.