---
title: "Google and Amazon locked up 20 years of Constellation nuclear; a $5 billion loan covers 80% at eight plants"
description: "Google and Amazon have contracted 20 years of nuclear output from Constellation, and Washington's new $5 billion loan reaches at most 80% of eligible cost at eight plants. Monday's third-quarter report is the first look at how Constellation funds the rest."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Power"
published: 2026-11-06T17:06:35.602Z
modified: 2026-11-06T17:06:35.602Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/google-and-amazon-locked-up-20-years-of-constellation-nuclear-a-5-billion-loan-covers-80-at-eight-plants
language: en
keywords: "Nuclear, Constellation Energy, Data Centers, Power Contracts, Google, Amazon"
---

# Google and Amazon locked up 20 years of Constellation nuclear; a $5 billion loan covers 80% at eight plants

> Google and Amazon have contracted 20 years of nuclear output from Constellation, and Washington's new $5 billion loan reaches at most 80% of eligible cost at eight plants. Monday's third-quarter report is the first look at how Constellation funds the rest.

AI's appetite for firm power is being answered the old-fashioned way, with two-decade contracts. Google has signed one with [Constellation Energy](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/constellation-energy), the largest US nuclear operator, for new output from 11 of its reactors, and [Amazon has signed another at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland](https://theinference.org/article/amazon-bought-690-megawatts-from-constellation-s-calvert-cliffs-calvert-county-s-zoning-gates-the-next-deal) [1][2].

On October 27, 2026, the Energy Department [added a conditional loan of up to $5 billion toward the plant upgrades](https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/us-government-loan-to-support-constellation-uprates) behind those deals [3]. The loan reaches at most 80% of eligible project cost, and only at eight plants [3]. Everything above it is Constellation's own money, and third-quarter results before the bell on November 9 are the first look at how it gets paid [9].

## The buyers moved before Washington did

PJM, the grid serving the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Midwest, [came up 6.8 gigawatts short of its reliability target in a September auction](https://gridpermit.backburnerlabs.net/blog/doe-constellation-5-billion-nuclear-uprate-loan-byron), and its market monitor named data centers as the biggest driver [4]. That scarcity is why the buyers signed first. [Google](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/alphabet)'s agreement represents [more than $4.3 billion of Constellation investment](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261006125246/en/Google-and-Constellation-Announce-Landmark-Agreement-to-Bring-890-MW-of-New-Nuclear-Capacity-to-PJM-Grid-as-Part-of-Long-Term-Power-Deal), with the first uprate due in 2028 [1].

[Amazon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon)'s [covers 690 megawatts at Calvert Cliffs](https://markets.financialcontent.com/streetinsider/article/bizwire-2026-9-30-constellation-and-amazon-announce-20-year-power-purchase-agreement-adding-190-megawatts-of-nuclear-capacity-at-calvert-cliffs) [2]. About 190 megawatts of that is new capacity, arriving by 2032 [2]. An uprate replaces turbines, steam generators and control systems at plants already built and connected, which is how capacity arrives in years rather than the decade a new reactor takes [4].

## The loan stops at eight plants, and at 80% of cost

The commitment names eight plants and remains conditional on due diligence, definitive financing documents and licensing at each unit [3][5]. Salem in New Jersey is not on the list. On November 5, 2026, its operator [PSEG](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/pseg) [announced a 200-megawatt uprate](https://www.ans.org/news/tag-constellation/) there and said it will take about 112 megawatts itself; Constellation owns 43% of that plant, outside the loan's reach [5][6].

When the Google deal was signed, Constellation chief executive Joe Dominguez called it "funded by private entities" [1]. Federal debt now sits beneath the same projects, at terms Dominguez frames as pairing private demand with smart financing [3]. No household bill in three states pays for the contracts; the loan is taxpayer-backed [4].

*Chart: **Quarterly capital spending stepped up as cash fell for three straight quarters** Line chart of Constellation Energy's quarterly cash and capital expenditure in billions of dollars from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026, showing cash falling to about one billion dollars while capital spending rises above 1.2 billion.*

*Quarterly figures in US dollars, from Constellation's SEC filings. The Calpine acquisition closed in January 2026. [7]*

## The balance sheet is the next bottleneck

[Cash ended June at about $1 billion](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001868275), down sharply from year-end [7]. The first half combined the highest quarterly capital spending in at least three years with roughly $2 billion of share buybacks [7][8]. Asset sales soften that: [a Texas gas plant closed in October](https://kalkine.com/news/utilities/is-constellation-energy-nasdaqceg-done-shedding-calpine-plants), and a 4,400-megawatt package in PJM follows by year-end [8].

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects a dozen uprate applications from Constellation through 2030, so licensing and execution, not demand, now set the pace [5]. Options traders are pricing a 14% move into Monday's report, with 1.9 puts for every call [9].

The demand side of the AI power boom is solved, and that is genuinely good news for anyone building on these models. What remains is slow, debt-heavy engineering, and whoever delivers those megawatts is doing work the AI economy now depends on. Above the loan's cap, that work belongs to Constellation alone, and Monday is when it shows how it plans to pay for it.

## Takeaway

Buyers signed first and Washington's $5 billion loan covers at most 80% at eight plants; Monday's results show how Constellation funds the rest.

## Sources

1. [Business Wire, Google and Constellation Announce Landmark Agreement to Bring 890 MW of New Nuclear Capacity to PJM Grid, 6 October 2026](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261006125246/en/Google-and-Constellation-Announce-Landmark-Agreement-to-Bring-890-MW-of-New-Nuclear-Capacity-to-PJM-Grid-as-Part-of-Long-Term-Power-Deal)
2. [Constellation via Business Wire (FinancialContent), Constellation and Amazon Announce 20-Year Power Purchase Agreement Adding 190 Megawatts at Calvert Cliffs, 30 September 2026](https://markets.financialcontent.com/streetinsider/article/bizwire-2026-9-30-constellation-and-amazon-announce-20-year-power-purchase-agreement-adding-190-megawatts-of-nuclear-capacity-at-calvert-cliffs)
3. [World Nuclear News, US government loan to support Constellation uprates, 28 October 2026](https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/us-government-loan-to-support-constellation-uprates)
4. [GridPermit (Brendan Hogan), The Energy Department Offered Constellation $5 Billion for Nuclear Uprates. Google and Amazon Already Bought Almost All the New Power., 2 November 2026](https://gridpermit.backburnerlabs.net/blog/doe-constellation-5-billion-nuclear-uprate-loan-byron)
5. [POWER Magazine (Sonal C. Patel), DOE Offers Constellation Up to $5B Loan for 1.1 GW of Nuclear Uprates at Eight Plants, 27 October 2026](https://www.powermag.com/doe-offers-constellation-up-to-5b-loan-for-1-1-gw-of-nuclear-uprates-at-eight-plants/)
6. [ANS Nuclear Newswire, Salem power plant planning 200-MW uprate (tag collection, fetched 6 November 2026)](https://www.ans.org/news/tag-constellation/)
7. [Constellation Energy quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 6 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001868275)
8. [Kalkine, Is Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG) Done Shedding Calpine Plants?, November 2026](https://kalkine.com/news/utilities/is-constellation-energy-nasdaqceg-done-shedding-calpine-plants)
9. [StreetInsider, Constellation Energy Group (CEG) call put ratio 1 call to 1.9 puts into quarter results, 6 November 2026](https://www.streetinsider.com/Option+EPS+Action/Constellation+Energy+Group%2C+Inc.+%28CEG%29+call+put+ratio+1+call+to+1.9+puts+into+quarter+results/27302434.html)


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Google and Amazon locked up 20 years of Constellation nuclear; a $5 billion loan covers 80% at eight plants — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/google-and-amazon-locked-up-20-years-of-constellation-nuclear-a-5-billion-loan-covers-80-at-eight-plants