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US offers Constellation up to $5 billion loan for nuclear upgrades

Published

Ongoing: AI Cooling

The US Department of Energy made a conditional loan commitment of up to $5 billion to Constellation Energy. The money would fund uprates at eight plants in Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania, adding nearly 1.1 GW of capacity.

The department's Office of Energy Dominance Financing announced the offer on Tuesday 27 October. Energy Secretary Chris Wright made the announcement during a visit to Constellation's Byron Generating Station in Illinois. The eight plants have 15 operating reactors.

Constellation said the commitment could lower its financing costs and help it add nuclear capacity at greater scale. It said recent 20-year agreements with Google and Amazon encouraged it to invest more than $7 billion to add approximately 1,080 megawatts. The company said the added electricity could power over 930,000 homes.

Constellation said uprates are one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to add dependable power without building new generation or transmission. Reports said most of the new capacity is already committed to Google, Amazon and Meta.

Key facts

Who
Department of Energy (US government department providing the loans); Trump (US administration referenced in the headline); US Department of Energy (lender offering the conditional loan commitment); Donald Trump (US President who set a goal to quadruple US nuclear power capacity by 2050)
What
The DOE's Office of Energy Dominance Financing announced a conditional loan commitment of up to $5 billion to Constellation for nuclear uprates and modernization that could add nearly 1.1 GW of generating capacity. The announcement was made during Energy Secretary Chris Wright's visit to Constellation's Byron Generating Station in Illinois.
When
28 October 2026
Where
United States, Illinois, Maryland
Status
Reported

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