Meta announced on Tuesday a multi-billion-dollar agreement with Constellation Energy aimed at securing clean energy attributes from an Illinois nuclear power facility until 2047. Under the arrangement beginning in June 2027, Meta will acquire the entire clean energy output from the Clinton Clean Energy Center, a 1.1 gigawatt nuclear plant located in central Illinois.
While electricity from the facility will continue feeding into the local grid rather than directly supplying Meta’s operations, the deal enables the social media giant to significantly enhance its carbon accounting strategy to offset its own emissions footprint. Although financial details of the contract were not disclosed, the considerable investment will support Constellation Energy’s relicensing efforts, ensuring a stable revenue stream and continued operation for the nuclear plant.
The partnership underscores big tech’s recent and growing interest in nuclear-generated power, driven by the global surge in demand from data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Previously, nuclear plants had struggled in competition with cheaper alternatives such as wind, solar, and natural gas, but tech companies are increasingly drawn to their reliability and consistent output.
Both Meta and Constellation framed this latest agreement as instrumental in keeping the Clinton power plant operational; Constellation had planned to shut down the reactor back in 2017 due to competitive pressures, before receiving state subsidies from Illinois legislators. Those subsidies, however, are slated to expire in 2027, making the new deal with Meta essential to maintain the facility’s financial viability long-term. Yet, Constellation had not made any recent announcements regarding closing the plant, and had previously expressed intentions to apply for extending its operational license through 2047—now effectively guaranteed by this latest agreement.
The Clinton Clean Energy Center arrangement is the second recent high-profile nuclear partnership for Constellation involving a major technology firm. Earlier, the energy provider secured an agreement with Microsoft to restart a reactor at the Three Mile Island site, with Microsoft agreeing to purchase the power produced.
Meta itself has significantly stepped up its commitment to nuclear technology this year, issuing requests for site proposals to build new nuclear plants capable of generating between one and four gigawatts. The company disclosed it has already received more than fifty competitive submissions across twenty states, highlighting tech giants’ increased role in shaping the U.S.’ clean energy landscape.
