Google has secured 3.6 gigawatts of power to supply its expanding AI data-center footprint amid rising strain on the U.S. electric grid.
On Tuesday, Google announced that it has secured 3,590 megawatts of power from Constellation Energy. This 3.6-gigawatt capacity connects to the PJM Interconnection, the largest power grid in the United States—a move driven by the enormous energy demands of AI data centers, which require continuous, massive power consumption.
About a quarter of this capacity will be generated by new nuclear power plants, with Constellation investing more than $4.3 billion to increase capacity. Google has signed a 20-year agreement for 890 megawatts of nuclear power from Constellation's facilities. These reactors will undergo upgrades to produce additional megawatts, with new capacity coming online beginning in 2028. Constellation has plans for 11 nuclear generators across Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey within PJM's jurisdiction. An additional 2,700 megawatts will come from a separate 15-year contract with an unspecified source.
The AI race is quietly becoming a power-plant race. This trend extends across Big Tech. Microsoft has backed Constellation's efforts to bring back the Three Mile Island reactor in Pennsylvania to power its data centers. Google has signed an agreement with NextEra Energy to revive a nuclear plant in Iowa. Constellation's shares jumped more than 13% to $304.04 by mid-morning Tuesday following the announcement. The Maryland company is America's largest nuclear plant operator and also owns natural gas plants and geothermal assets following its acquisition of Calpine earlier this year.
According to Amanda Peterson Corio, Google's global head of energy and power, "the company seeks to spur growth through investment in cleaner and more reliable supply." Beneath the smooth corporate language lies a harder truth: the pressure is mounting as data centers are coming online faster than the grid can handle them.
Within PJM, capacity prices have increased more than tenfold since 2024, with data center expansion playing a significant role in this surge. Additionally, the grid faces an expected energy shortfall. Grid management has proposed a direct solution: large data centers will be required to supply their own electricity or face remote disconnection during periods of high demand.
The Google-Constellation deal is partly a reaction to this proposal. Rather than relying on utilities to find additional capacity, the two companies are pairing new demand with increased supply. They have developed a framework applicable elsewhere that covers new generation, battery storage, and demand response—which involves large customers reducing or shifting their demand when the grid is stressed. Joe Dominguez, Google's CEO, has called the deal a blueprint for how technology companies and energy suppliers can invest in infrastructure expansion as the digital economy grows. Whether this concept succeeds depends on whether actual capacity reaches the grid.
However, on Monday the Wilderness Society called for a moratorium on AI data centers on federal lands, citing concerns about electricity consumption, water use, wildlife habitat impacts, and public access. This follows the Trump administration's review of permits for several projects on Bureau of Land Management lands. The administration has advocated for faster construction of AI infrastructure and broader industrial use of public lands, including mining and oil and gas extraction. The industry is facing increasing local opposition over the land, water, and electricity demands of data centers. The Wilderness Society hopes that when decision-makers weigh the impact of large-scale AI facilities, federal lands will remain dedicated to preservation and recreation.