PSEG Power and Constellation Energy plan a 200 MW uprate at the jointly owned Salem nuclear plant in southern New Jersey, according to Utility Dive's report on PSEG's third quarter 2026 earnings. Salem has 2,280 MW of installed capacity. PSEG Power would own 112 MW of the added output and Constellation would own the remainder.
The uprate would support a recently announced nuclear-focused power purchase agreement with Google. The company did not give a completion date.
PSEG also disclosed an equipment issue at the plant. During a scheduled refueling outage at Salem 1, a visual inspection in October found that the thermal shield inside the reactor vessel is degraded. PSEG said further testing continues and will extend the outage, and the effect on the schedule depends on the timing and results of the inspection and any repairs.
On the commercial side, PSEG is exploring deals with data center developers built around PSEG Power's nuclear fleet of roughly 3.8 GW. CEO Ralph LaRossa said the company is developing terms with large load customers for contracts that cover existing nuclear output, future nuclear upgrades and other generation. LaRossa also said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent rejection of key parts of PJM's plan for connecting data centers and other large loads moves the focus to the states, where retail curtailment and cost allocation questions remain.
PSEG's nuclear fleet of about 3,760 MW ran at a 95.5% capacity factor in the quarter, up from 92.4% a year earlier. Operating income was $574 million, compared with $565 million a year earlier. Net income fell to $376 million, or 76 cents per share, from $622 million, or $1.25 per share, mainly because of mark-to-market losses at PSEG Power. Revenue was $3 billion, down from $3.2 billion.
Source: Utility Dive - https://www.utilitydive.com/news/pseg-power-nuclear-uprate-salem-data-center-earnings/873587/