---
title: "Amazon's Indiana nuclear deal is a study; AEP's 69 GW of sold load is the story"
description: "AEP, Amazon and X-energy will study twelve small reactors at a retired Indiana coal plant, with no cost, date or contract price disclosed. AEP has contracted 69 GW of new load against the 33 GW of capacity it owns or contracts, and its October 28 capital plan prices the gap."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Power"
published: 2026-10-22T15:18:48.280Z
modified: 2026-10-22T15:18:48.280Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/amazon-s-indiana-nuclear-deal-is-a-study-aep-s-69-gw-of-sold-load-is-the-story
language: en
keywords: "Nuclear, Utilities, Data Centers, Amazon, AEP, Small Modular Reactors"
---

# Amazon's Indiana nuclear deal is a study; AEP's 69 GW of sold load is the story

> AEP, Amazon and X-energy will study twelve small reactors at a retired Indiana coal plant, with no cost, date or contract price disclosed. AEP has contracted 69 GW of new load against the 33 GW of capacity it owns or contracts, and its October 28 capital plan prices the gap.

## Twelve reactors on a retired coal plant

On October 19, [American Electric Power](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/american-electric-power) (Nasdaq: AEP) and reactor developer [X-energy](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/x-energy) (Nasdaq: XE) [signed a joint development agreement](https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/aep-partners-amazon-x-energy-123000961.html) to study twelve 80-MW Xe-100 small modular reactors at the retired Breed coal station in Sullivan County, Indiana: 960 MW that would be the state's first commercial nuclear generation [1][2][3].

[Amazon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon) supplies milestone-based development funding and would be the plant's first customer, under a long-term contract the companies say covers the facility's costs and operations [1][4]. It is the second project in an Amazon and X-energy alliance targeting more than 5 GW of new US nuclear capacity by 2039 [4].

## A study with no price on it

[The announcement carries no capital cost, no funding amount, no contract term or price, no ownership split, no investment-decision date and no construction schedule](https://www.powermag.com/aep-x-energy-eye-960-mw-nuclear-plant-at-retired-indiana-coal-site-backed-by-amazon/) [2]. No small modular reactor has been built or commissioned in the United States, and the only utility-scale reactor completed there in 11 years is Vogtle 3 and 4 in Georgia [5]. Operation in Indiana, if the project proceeds at all, is put early next decade [5].

## 69 gigawatts sold, 33 in the fleet

The demand is real: Indiana Michigan Power, AEP's utility there, [expects Indiana peak load to jump from 2,800 MW to more than 7,000 MW by 2030](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/aep-signs-advanced-960-mw-nuclear-amazon-x-energy/833341/) [6]. Supply is the question.

AEP told investors on July 30 that it [holds 69 GW of contracted load additions through 2030](https://www.powermag.com/aep-plans-4-billion-fuel-cell-power-plant-for-google-signs-up-to-1-6-gw-mainspring-generator-deal/), up 6 GW in a single quarter, against roughly 33,000 MW of owned and contracted capacity, about 25 GW of it owned outright at the end of 2025 [1][7][8].

One week of buying, the reactor study plus a $4 billion, 702-MW Bloom fuel cell plant for Google announced October 14 ([covered by The Inference on October 21](https://theinference.org/article/bloom-energy-s-63-5x-premium-rides-on-oracle-s-2-45-gigawatt-campus-and-a-december-7-air-permit-hearing)) plus a 190-MW first order of Mainspring linear generators under an option reaching 1.6 GW by 2034, added about 1.85 GW, under 3% of the load signed [7].

AEP has sold 69 gigawatts of future electricity, owns or contracts 33, and bought 1.85.

*Chart: **One week of generation deals bought 1.85 GW against 69 GW of contracted load** Bar chart comparing AEP's 69 GW of contracted load additions through 2030 with its 33 GW owned and contracted fleet and the roughly 1.85 GW of generation announced in one October week*

*Capacity basis, gigawatts. Contracted load additions per AEP's July 30, 2026, earnings call as reported by POWER; fleet per AEP's October 19 release; purchases per company announcements, October 2026. [1][2][7]*

## Who pays if the build slips

AEP chief executive Bill Fehrman says the agreements provide "all necessary capital protections and financial safeguards"; Josh Weissman, Amazon's data center infrastructure chief, says Amazon will "pay our full costs without passing them to others," language Amazon ties to the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge [1][2]. Both framings put the bill on Amazon, and neither names who carries a decade of delay on a first-of-a-kind design.

The market has priced the growth anyway: [BTIG upgraded AEP to Buy at $147 on October 20](https://www.gurufocus.com/news/9134872/regulated-utilities-like-aep-gain-traction-in-ai-data-center-power-demand), the quarterly dividend rose to $0.97 from $0.95, and the stock closed October 21 at $127.39, up 10.5% this year, at 3.06 times sales against a five-year median of 2.62, with negative free cash flow, interest coverage of 2.43 and an Altman Z-score of 0.93 [8][9].

*Chart: **Capital spending has outrun operating cash in nine of the last twelve quarters** Line chart of AEP quarterly capital spending against operating cash flow from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026, showing capital spending above operating cash in nine of twelve quarters*

*AEP quarterly capital spending against operating cash flow, billions of dollars, per AEP's SEC filings. [10]*

The filings underneath show the strain: capital spending outran operating cash flow in nine of the last twelve quarters, $13.4 billion against $7.7 billion across the four most recent [10].

## October 28 prices the promise

AEP reports third-quarter results and its 2027-2031 capital plan on October 28 [7]. The $78 billion 2026-2030 base already holds only about half of the 13 GW of gas turbines AEP has secured, and the Wyoming fuel cell plant sits in a further "more than $10 billion" of line-of-sight spending; a December 2026 deadline on the fuel-cell offtake comes first [7].

Amazon, for its part, [has spent or announced more than $30 billion in Indiana](https://www.ans.org/news/article-8501/amazon-aep-xenergy-explore-smr-feasibility-in-indiana/), $15 billion of it for 2.4 GW of data centers [5]. Until October 28, 69 gigawatts of sold load rests on 1.85 gigawatts of ordered metal and a reactor that has never run [5].

## Takeaway

The Indiana SMR announcement carries no price, date or contract terms; the real number is AEP's 69 GW of contracted load against 33 GW of owned and contracted capacity, and the October 28 capital plan must start to price the gap.

## Sources

1. [AEP press release via PR Newswire, "AEP Partners with Amazon and X-energy to Explore Advanced Nuclear Energy in Indiana," 19 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/aep-partners-amazon-x-energy-123000961.html)
2. [POWER Magazine, Sonal Patel, "AEP, X-energy Eye 960-MW Nuclear Plant at Retired Indiana Coal Site, Backed by Amazon," 19 October 2026](https://www.powermag.com/aep-x-energy-eye-960-mw-nuclear-plant-at-retired-indiana-coal-site-backed-by-amazon/)
3. [American Nuclear Society, Nuclear News, "Amazon, AEP, X-energy explore SMR feasibility in Indiana," 19 October 2026](https://www.ans.org/news/article-8501/amazon-aep-xenergy-explore-smr-feasibility-in-indiana/)
4. [X-Energy press release via Globe Newswire, "X-energy, Amazon, American Electric Power Partner to Bring SMR Project to Indiana," 19 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/x-energy-amazon-american-electric-123000119.html)
5. [EnergyTech, Rod Walton, "Utilities and SMRs? AEP & X-Energy Mulling Next-Gen Nuclear in Indiana," 19 October 2026](https://www.energytech.com/next-gen-nuclear/article/55412977/utilities-and-smrs-aep-x-energy-mulling-next-gen-nuclear-in-indiana)
6. [Utility Dive, Robert Walton, "AEP signs 960-MW Indiana nuclear pact with Amazon, X-energy," 19 October 2026](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/aep-signs-advanced-960-mw-nuclear-amazon-x-energy/833341/)
7. [POWER Magazine, Sonal Patel, "AEP Plans $4 Billion Fuel Cell Power Plant for Google, Signs Up to 1.6 GW Mainspring Generator Deal," 15 October 2026](https://www.powermag.com/aep-plans-4-billion-fuel-cell-power-plant-for-google-signs-up-to-1-6-gw-mainspring-generator-deal/)
8. [MarketScreener, MT Newswires, "American Electric Power Raises Quarterly Dividend to $0.97 from $0.95 a Share" and company file, 20 October 2026](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/american-electric-power-raises-quarterly-dividend-to-0-97-from-0-95-a-share-payable-dec-10-to-sh-ce785cd8da8bf023)
9. [GuruFocus News, "Regulated Utilities Like AEP Gain Traction in AI Data Center Power Demand," 21 October 2026](https://www.gurufocus.com/news/9134872/regulated-utilities-like-aep-gain-traction-in-ai-data-center-power-demand)
10. [American Electric Power, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 22 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000004904)


---

Amazon's Indiana nuclear deal is a study; AEP's 69 GW of sold load is the story — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/amazon-s-indiana-nuclear-deal-is-a-study-aep-s-69-gw-of-sold-load-is-the-story