Constellation Energy used its second quarter update to detail new long-term power purchase agreements tied to its nuclear fleet and to report progress on the restart of the Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania.
Among the agreements disclosed was a long-term contract covering 176 MW of electricity from the Dresden nuclear plant in Illinois. A planned 30 MW uprate at Dresden is intended to supply the capacity committed under a power purchase agreement with Walmart, adding output at an existing site rather than requiring new construction.
The Crane Clean Energy Center, the former Three Mile Island Unit 1, remains on a restart track backed by a long-term agreement with Microsoft covering data center load. Constellation has been working through equipment refurbishment, staffing and regulatory steps required before the unit can return to the grid.
The updates fit a broader pattern across the U.S. fleet in 2026. Operators have leaned on uprates at running reactors, license renewals and restarts of recently shuttered units to add carbon-free capacity faster than a new build allows. Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta have each signed at least one nuclear supply agreement this year, and the combined commitments approach 10 gigawatts of capacity.
Federal policy has moved in the same direction. The Energy Department launched the Utility Power Reactor Incremental Scaling Effort in March 2026, targeting 2.5 GW of added nuclear capacity by 2027 and 5 GW by 2029, largely through uprates and recovery of capacity at existing sites.
Source: ANS Nuclear Newswire - https://www.ans.org/news/2026-08-13/article-8291/secondquarter-updates-from-constellation-new-ppas-crane-restart-and-more/