The US Department of Energy announced $10.1 billion in loans to Constellation and Alliant covering 3.7 GW, and both loan packages can finance uprates at existing generation facilities, which Energy Secretary Chris Wright called 'commonsense'.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced $10.1 billion in loans and loan guarantees to Constellation Energy and Alliant Energy this week, aiming to support 3.7 GW of new capacity from nuclear and other technologies. Both loan packages could be used to finance uprates at existing generation facilities, which Energy Secretary Chris Wright called "commonsense" energy policy.
DOE's Office of Energy Dominance Financing on Tuesday announced a conditional loan commitment of up to $5 billion to finance nuclear uprates and modernization across Constellation Energy's fleet in Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, EDF, which operated as the Loan Programs Office under the Biden administration, said it closed two loans totaling $5.1 billion to Alliant Energy for new gas-fired power plants, energy storage systems and upgrades to existing generation facilities.
EDF manages loan programs with a combined authority exceeding $300 billion and is using those funds to bring about a "nuclear renaissance" while addressing energy affordability, according to its strategic plan.
Constellation's loan commitment would go toward adding almost 1.1 GW of capacity in the PJM Interconnection and Midcontinent Independent System Operator markets by boosting capacity and modernizing existing nuclear plants. DOE noted Constellation's planned investments at the Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, LaSalle and Quad Cities nuclear plants in Illinois; Calvert Cliffs in Maryland; and Limerick in Pennsylvania.
"Uprates that maximize power generation ... are yet another example of the commonsense energy addition policies the Trump Administration is embracing," Wright said in a statement. DOE has set a 5-GW uprate and restart goal for the U.S. nuclear fleet, and Wright said 95% of that capacity has been identified.
"EDF's conditional loan commitment also includes an option to finance future uprate projects at additional Constellation facilities," DOE said. However, Constellation "must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before the Department enters into definitive financing documents and funds the loan."
The $5.1 billion in loans to Alliant will lower electricity costs and bolster grid reliability in Iowa and Wisconsin, DOE said. An Alliant filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday notes separate loans to two utility subsidiaries: about $1.6 billion for Wisconsin Power & Light and $3.5 billion for Interstate Power and Light.
The funds will help add more than 2.6 GW "of new or upgraded power generation capacity" through "natural gas-fired power plants, energy storage systems, and upgrades to existing generation facilities," DOE said.
Alliant had previously been tapped by the Biden-era LPO for $3 billion in potential loans to its utility subsidiaries.
The Alliant loan is the Trump administration's tenth financial close and the sixth and seventh utility financings completed through the EDF program, DOE said. The program has also announced loans this year to AEP Texas, Southern Co., DTE Gas and others.