--- title: "Three quarters of Google's 3.6-gigawatt Constellation nuclear deal is power that already exists" description: "The October 6 agreements split into 890 MW of new reactor uprates and 2,700 MW of existing output Google holds for 15 years, in a grid whose capacity auctions have cleared at the price cap three years running." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Power" published: 2026-10-08T15:24:57.575Z modified: 2026-10-08T15:24:57.575Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/three-quarters-of-google-s-3-6-gigawatt-constellation-nuclear-deal-is-power-that-already-exists language: en keywords: "Google, Constellation Energy, Nuclear, PJM, Data Centers" --- # Three quarters of Google's 3.6-gigawatt Constellation nuclear deal is power that already exists > The October 6 agreements split into 890 MW of new reactor uprates and 2,700 MW of existing output Google holds for 15 years, in a grid whose capacity auctions have cleared at the price cap three years running. ## The 3.6 gigawatts is two contracts The headline said 3.6 gigawatts of nuclear [1]. [The paperwork, dated October 6](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), is two deals: [a 20-year power purchase agreement underwriting $4.3 billion of uprates](https://theinference.org/article/google-signed-a-20-year-deal-to-add-890-megawatts-to-11-constellation-nuclear-reactors) at 11 [Constellation](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/constellation-energy) reactors in three states, worth 890 MW of genuinely new capacity by the end of 2032, and a 15-year agreement on 2,700 MW of output from plants PJM already runs [1][2]. Together: 3,590 MW, and three quarters of it is existing generation [3]. ## The market paid Constellation on the spot CEG closed up 12.2 percent, among the S&P 500's top two gainers; Talen added 12.4 percent and [Vistra](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/vistra) 10.7 [3]. Constellation spends the $4.3 billion and delivers the first uprate in 2028; Google's role is 20 years of certain revenue, at a price neither company discloses [2][3]. *Chart: **Talen and Vistra rose almost as much as Constellation** Bars ranking one-day share gains after the October 6 announcement: Talen 12.4 percent, Constellation 12.2 percent, Vistra 10.7 percent* *One-day share moves after the October 6 Google-Constellation announcement. CEG closed among the S&P 500's top two gainers. [3]* ## The bigger leg adds no new megawatts The 15-year leg covers plants already operating: Google buys existing fleet output, a financial structure Constellation says keeps those assets economically viable and their energy and capacity in the PJM market [4]. It lands on a grid with no slack. [PJM's latest capacity auction cleared at the $325/MW-day cap, the third straight at the cap](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/09/17/the-ai-boom-has-a-power-problem-these-3-utilities-are-getting-paid-to-solve-it/), and would have cleared above $500/MW-day uncapped [5]. Days earlier, FERC froze PJM's 6,831 MW backstop purchase, unconvinced its costs fall on the load driving them [4][6]. PJM itself told regulators that contracting existing capacity to new large loads "would not solve the problem" its new-capacity rules address [4]. ## Constellation's nuclear book now tops 5 GW Add the week up: Google's 3,590 MW, [Amazon's 690 MW at Calvert Cliffs signed days earlier](https://theinference.org/article/amazon-scrapped-its-maryland-data-center-and-bought-the-nuclear-plant-s-power-anyway), and 920 MW of further long-term contracts with investment-grade buyers on the books at Constellation's Q2 filing [4][7]. The hyperscalers pay differently: [Amazon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon)'s package runs above $3 billion for about 190 MW of uprate, [over $15 million per megawatt, against roughly $4.8 million for Google's uprates](https://theinference.org/article/new-nuclear-cost-3-3x-more-per-megawatt-under-amazon-than-google-six-days-apart-at-constellation), though Amazon's sum also buys relicensing and 20 more years of operation [2][7]. *Chart: **Google's 2,700 MW of existing output is the biggest slice of Constellation's nuclear book** Bars ranking megawatts under 15 to 20 year nuclear offtake: Google 2,700 MW of existing output, other investment-grade buyers 920 MW, Google 890 MW of uprates, Amazon 690 MW at Calvert Cliffs* *Megawatts under long-term nuclear offtake by buyer. Other investment-grade PPAs are as of Constellation's Q2 2026 filing, before the Amazon and Google agreements; Google's total is 3,590 MW across two contracts. [2][4][7]* ## The companies' answer: nothing leaves the grid Google says [the collaboration adds capacity "at no cost to other ratepayers"](https://blog.google/company-news/why-were-backing-americas-existing-nuclear-plants/) [8], and Constellation, as with Amazon, insists no power leaves the PJM grid and nothing runs behind the meter [4][7]. Both hold: the electrons still serve PJM's 67 million people [8]. What moves is the offtake, and if firm baseload is spoken for into the 2040s, everyone left bids for what remains. [Microsoft](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/microsoft) already buys Three Mile Island's restart; [Meta](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/meta) holds deals in three states [9]. ## The regulator sets the price of the rest PJM wants [its Bring Your Own New Capacity rules effective by October 12](https://www.powermag.com/google-deal-backs-890-mw-of-constellation-nuclear-uprates-at-11-pjm-reactors/), and capacity that already cleared an auction generally fails the new-capacity test; neither company says whether the 890 MW qualifies [4]. The next capacity auction opens in December, and the backstop returns by February 28, 2027 [4][6]. The cheapest megawatt in America is the one that already exists, and Google just bought 15 years of 2,700 of them. ## Takeaway Google's 3.6 GW Constellation deal is three quarters existing output; the only new supply is 890 MW of uprates that PJM's new-capacity rules may not even count, in a market clearing at its price cap. ## Sources 1. [Enerdata Daily Energy News, "Google contracts 3.6 GW of power from Constellation Energy's nuclear fleet (US)", 8 October 2026](https://www.enerdata.net/publications/daily-energy-news/google-contracts-36-gw-power-constellation-energys-nuclear-fleet-us.html) 2. [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) 3. [NAI500, "Constellation Energy Skyrockets on Historic Multi-Gigawatt Nuclear Power Deal With Google", 7 October 2026](https://nai500.com/blog/2026/10/constellation-energy-skyrockets-on-historic-multi-gigawatt-nuclear-power-deal-with-google/) 4. [POWER Magazine, Sonal 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/) 5. [24/7 Wall St., Joel South, "The AI Boom Has a Power Problem. These 3 Utilities Are Getting Paid to Solve It.", 17 September 2026](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/09/17/the-ai-boom-has-a-power-problem-these-3-utilities-are-getting-paid-to-solve-it/) 6. [Utility Dive (via Yahoo News), Ethan Howland, "FERC chair slams PJM 'mess' as country's largest grid operator delays power auction", 30 September 2026](https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/ferc-chair-slams-pjm-mess-134855049.html) 7. [Constellation Energy, "Amazon and Constellation Agreement to Add Clean Energy at Calvert Cliffs", October 2026](https://www.constellationenergy.com/about/locations/calvert-cliffs-clean-energy-center/amazon-and-constellation-agreement-to-add-clean-energy-at-calvert-cliffs.html) 8. [Google, Amanda Peterson Corio, "Why we're backing America's existing nuclear plants", 6 October 2026](https://blog.google/company-news/why-were-backing-americas-existing-nuclear-plants/) 9. [Axios (via MSN), Pete Gannon, "Google and Constellation Energy sign latest nuclear energy deal", 7 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/google-and-constellation-energy-sign-latest-nuclear-energy-deal/ar-AA2dH0HB) --- Three quarters of Google's 3.6-gigawatt Constellation nuclear deal is power that already exists — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/three-quarters-of-google-s-3-6-gigawatt-constellation-nuclear-deal-is-power-that-already-exists