--- title: "Google's $4.3 billion nuclear deal adds 97 MW at PSEG's Salem plant; its stock is still down 12% this year" description: "Google and Constellation's 20-year contract funds 97 new megawatts at Salem, the New Jersey nuclear plant PSEG operates and majority-owns. PEG is down 12 percent this year, and Goldman just cut its target again." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Power" published: 2026-10-15T19:20:39.570Z modified: 2026-10-15T19:20:39.570Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/google-s-4-3-billion-nuclear-deal-adds-97-mw-at-pseg-s-salem-plant-its-stock-is-still-down-12-this-year language: en keywords: "Nuclear, Google, Constellation Energy, PSEG, Data Centers" --- # Google's $4.3 billion nuclear deal adds 97 MW at PSEG's Salem plant; its stock is still down 12% this year > Google and Constellation's 20-year contract funds 97 new megawatts at Salem, the New Jersey nuclear plant PSEG operates and majority-owns. PEG is down 12 percent this year, and Goldman just cut its target again. ## Ninety-seven megawatts land in southern New Jersey Google signed a [20-year power purchase agreement](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 [Constellation Energy](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/constellation-energy), the largest US nuclear operator, on October 6, 2026: more than $4.3 billion for turbines, steam generators and control systems at 11 reactors in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, adding 890 MW of capacity that does not exist today, first delivery due 2028 [1]. One of the 11 is Salem, a 2,327 MW station in southern New Jersey slated for 97 MW of the work [2]. Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG), New Jersey's dominant utility, operates Salem and owns 57 percent of it; Constellation holds 43 [3]. Constellation's shares rose almost 14 percent the morning of the announcement [4]. PEG closed October 14 at $70.56, down 12.13 percent for the year [5]. ## Why the money is not showing up in PSEG's stock The $4.3 billion works out to [just over $4,800 per kilowatt](https://theinference.org/article/new-nuclear-cost-3-3x-more-per-megawatt-under-amazon-than-google-six-days-apart-at-constellation), by Canary Media's arithmetic, more than utility-scale solar with storage or a new gas plant [2]. PJM, the grid operator for the mid-Atlantic and Midwest, [cleared its 2028/29 capacity auction 6,831 MW short of its reliability requirement](https://www.powermag.com/google-deal-backs-890-mw-of-constellation-nuclear-uprates-at-11-pjm-reactors/) [3]. Yet the contract is Constellation's paper, and what the Salem work means for [PSEG](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/pseg)'s accounts is not disclosed. The other half of the [Google](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/alphabet) package, a [15-year supply deal for 2,700 MW of existing-fleet output](https://theinference.org/article/three-quarters-of-google-s-3-6-gigawatt-constellation-nuclear-deal-is-power-that-already-exists), adds no new capacity at all [6]. Generation is 12.7 percent of PSEG's net sales, against 40.1 percent from its distribution wires [5], and second-quarter net income fell 43 percent year over year [7]. *Chart: **PSEG's second-quarter net income fell 43 percent from a year earlier** Column chart of PSEG's quarterly net income from the first quarter of 2024 through the second quarter of 2026, with the second quarter of 2026 highlighted.* *Net income by calendar quarter, US dollars in billions. The second quarter of 2026 came in at $0.33 billion, down 43 percent from the second quarter of 2025. Source: PSEG, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 15 October 2026. [7]* ## Regulators are rewriting the rules, and returns are in dispute State regulators redrawing how New Jersey utilities operate heard contentious pushback over the returns they should earn [8], and at a [October 13 nuclear-energy seminar](https://www.rtoinsider.com/147986-new-jersey-nuclear-ambitions-under-scrutiny/), speakers said any new nuclear project in the state faces funding and offtake obstacles [9]. ## Six target cuts in a month, and the Street still says outperform [Goldman Sachs](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/goldman-sachs) [trimmed its PSEG target to $83 from $86 on October 15](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/goldman-sachs-adjusts-price-target-on-public-service-enterprise-group-to-83-from-86-ce785dd3da8ff62d), the sixth analyst cut since September 18; Scotiabank swung hardest, $92 to $77 [5]. The consensus nonetheless holds at outperform: 22 analysts, average target $83.36, 18 percent above the closing price [5]. *Chart: **Six banks cut PSEG's price target inside a month** Range chart of PSEG price target cuts by six banks between September 18 and October 15, 2026, showing previous and new targets in dollars.* *Previous and new price targets, US dollars per share, from MT Newswires broker actions compiled by MarketScreener, September 18 to October 15, 2026. [5]* The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on October 9 [accepted PJM's 50 MW definition of a large load](https://insidethedatacenter.com/articles/constellation-nuclear-uprates/) and rejected most of the rest of the package [2]. [Jefferies](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/jefferies) told clients the outcome means higher capacity prices for longer, and named Constellation and the independent power producers [NRG](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nrg-energy), [Talen](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/talen-energy) and [Vistra](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/vistra) as beneficiaries [2]. PSEG is not on that list. ## November earnings, then the 2027 filings PSEG reports third-quarter results on November 2 [5]. Its own stretch-uprate applications for both Salem units sit on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's calendar for the second quarter of 2027, with a license-renewal filing the same year [3]. Salem is licensed to 2036 and 2040 [3], and the Google term runs 20 years from 2028 deliveries [1]. Google has signed for reactor years the licenses do not yet cover. ## Takeaway Google and Constellation's 20-year, $4.3 billion contract funds 97 new megawatts at Salem, but the paper is Constellation's, generation is a small slice of PSEG's sales, and six analysts cut targets in a month even as the consensus holds at outperform. ## Sources 1. [Business Wire, Google and Constellation Announce Landmark Agreement to Bring 890 MW of New Nuclear Capacity to PJM Grid as Part of Long-Term Power Deal, 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. [Inside the Datacenter, Same Reactors, More Megawatts: Google and Amazon Pay Constellation to Squeeze 1.1 GW Out of PJM's Nuclear Fleet, October 2026](https://insidethedatacenter.com/articles/constellation-nuclear-uprates/) 3. [POWER Magazine, Sonal C. Patel, Google Deal Backs 890 MW of Constellation Nuclear Uprates at 11 PJM Reactors, 7 October 2026](https://www.powermag.com/google-deal-backs-890-mw-of-constellation-nuclear-uprates-at-11-pjm-reactors/) 4. [Utility Dive via Yahoo Finance, Robert Walton, Constellation, Google strike 890-MW nuclear deal in PJM, 6 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/constellation-google-deal-bring-4-125510429.html) 5. [MarketScreener, MT Newswires, Goldman Sachs Adjusts Price Target on Public Service Enterprise Group to $83 From $86, 15 October 2026](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/goldman-sachs-adjusts-price-target-on-public-service-enterprise-group-to-83-from-86-ce785dd3da8ff62d) 6. [Enerdatics, How Google Split 3.6 GW of Constellation Power Into Two Contracts, 9 October 2026](https://www.enerdatics.com/insights/how-google-split-3-6-gw-of-constellation-power-into-two-contracts) 7. [PSEG, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 15 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000788784) 8. [RTO Insider, Hugh Morley, ROE Debated at N.J. Utility Reform Hearings, 6 October 2026](https://www.rtoinsider.com/147310-roe-debated-new-jersey-utility-reform-hearings/) 9. [RTO Insider, Hugh Morley, New Jersey's Nuclear Ambitions Under Scrutiny, 13 October 2026](https://www.rtoinsider.com/147986-new-jersey-nuclear-ambitions-under-scrutiny/) --- Google's $4.3 billion nuclear deal adds 97 MW at PSEG's Salem plant; its stock is still down 12% this year — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/google-s-4-3-billion-nuclear-deal-adds-97-mw-at-pseg-s-salem-plant-its-stock-is-still-down-12-this-year