The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a waiver request from Constellation Energy that clears a regulatory pathway for restarting the Crane Clean Energy Center, formerly known as Three Mile Island Unit 1, in Middletown, Pennsylvania. The FERC waiver addresses a specific interconnection requirement that had created uncertainty around the plant's return to commercial operation, which Constellation is targeting for later in 2026.
Three Mile Island Unit 1 shut down in 2019 after Exelon, Constellation's predecessor company, concluded the plant was no longer economically viable in a low wholesale electricity price environment. Unit 1 operated safely until its closure and retained its Nuclear Regulatory Commission license.
Microsoft signed a twenty-year power purchase agreement with Constellation to purchase the plant's entire electricity output once it returns to service. The agreement, announced in September 2024, reflected Microsoft's desire to secure carbon-free baseload power for its data center operations and became a landmark transaction demonstrating the intersection of AI infrastructure demand with nuclear energy supply.
The FERC waiver approval removes a significant regulatory uncertainty from the plant's restart timeline. Constellation has been engaged in extensive refurbishment and inspection activities to verify the plant's systems after years of dormancy. The restart would add approximately 800 megawatts of carbon-free nuclear electricity to the PJM regional grid.
Source: ANS Nuclear Newswire -- https://www.ans.org/news/2026-06-05/article-8097/ferc-approves-constellation-waiver-request-on-crane-restart/