Since the subject of this thread is the Three Mile Island plant, it can be mentioned that the owner of the plant says it is ahead of schedule for the return to service.
THREE MILE ISLAND, Pennsylvania, June 25 (Reuters) - The former Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania may restart in 2027, about a year ahead of schedule after being put on a fast track to connect to the regional grid, executives with the plant’s owner Constellation Energy (CEG.O), opens new tab said on Wednesday.
Right. Last year FERC rejected a proposed agreement between Talen Energy, which owns the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, and Amazon Web Services, to increase the amount of power supplied to a data center. FERC rejected the Amazon/Talen proposal because it was “behind the meter”, i.e., they would avoid grid taxes. The Microsoft deal is not behind the meter.
The PJM grid has more than 185,000 MW of generating capacity. And they are adding 9,300 MW which includes the 887 MW Three Mile Island unit 1 nuclear power plant.
(Valley Forge, PA – May 2, 2025) – PJM has selected 51 projects that can come online quickly and provide more than 9,300 MW of reliable capacity through the Reliability Resource Initiative.
The projects consist of 39 uprates and 12 new construction proposals. The uprates apply to existing natural gas, nuclear, coal and onshore wind resources. Of the new projects, half are gas, five are batteries and one is nuclear[the 887 MW TMI-unit 1]. The uprates total 2,108 MW of unforced capacity (UCAP), or the amount of energy a resource can be expected to provide during times of highest system reliability risk. The new projects would contribute 7,253 MW of UCAP, for a combined total of 9,361 MW.
The projects were chosen from 94 applicants using a weighting process that assigned the most value to UCAP and in-service date, followed by Effective Load Carrying Capability (which values a resource’s contribution to reliability) and additional consideration for locating in zones in greatest need of generation.
MSFT did not sign the PPA with Constellation for the reason you claim: “access to power 24/7”.
Constellation signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Microsoft to restart the Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania. This agreement will enable Microsoft to purchase electricity from the plant to offset the electricity used by its data centers in the PJM Interconnection region [grid], supporting the company’s commitment to carbon-free energy. The PPA is part of Microsoft’s broader effort to decarbonize its operations and reach carbon negative status.
“This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonise the grid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative. Microsoft continues to collaborate with energy providers to develop carbon-free energy sources to help meet the grids’ capacity and reliability needs,” said Bobby Hollis, vice president of energy, Microsoft.
The tech companies are not after 24/7 electricity from nuclear plants because they get 24/7 electricity from the grid. The tech companies are signing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with the operators of the nuclear plants so that they can claim they are using carbon free electricity.
Yes, they are paying to put energy into the grid and using it elsewhere. It would seem we need to increase grid capacity. Is that happening as part of the nuclear restarts?
Yes the grid capacity is increasing with every power plant allowed to connect to the grid.
Think of the grid as a river of power. The more inputs added to the grid, the mightier the grid becomes.
Mississippi river has many inputs along its course like the Missouri River, Ohio River, Arkansas River, etc. The more inputs added to the Mississippi River, the mightier the Mississippi River becomes.
I’m not sure what you mean by “grid capacity”. Numerous authoritative articles are pointing out that we need to modernize our grid to handle more power. The inevitability of BEV vehicles will overload the grid without it. Ironically, it’s peoples’ stubborn clinging to ICE vehicles that has saved us thus far. If most of America was BEV, our grid (last I read) couldn’t handle it.
Yes I do mean grid capacity = total power plants connected to the grid in MW or GW. Yes we do need to modernize the various grids around the country. Some grids have been more progressive in those upgrades than others. We also need to build more transmission lines to incorporate all those power plants that have been waiting to connect to the various grids.
You should read my post about the PJM grid and how they have been laggards in connecting more power plants to their grid. Now that the prices on the PJM grid have risen too high, they are expediting these power plant connections.
The BEV vehicles will never overload any grid as long as these grids keep connecting new power plants and building new transmission lines. The bigger grid loads than BEV vehicles are the data centers currently being built around the country. But the grids can handle these new loads as long as new power plants and transmission lines are added to the grids involved.