The Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant Revisited: What Will It Add to the Pennsylvania Electricity and Industrial Infrastructure?
“What would be a better investment for our money? That’s the question we should be asking. We were told: let the marketplace decide. The market decided that it was not a nuclear power plant, according to the Three Mile Island Alert.
“Before it was prematurely shuttered due to poor economics, this plant was among the safest and most reliable nuclear plants on the grid, and we look forward to bringing it back with a new name and a renewed mission to serve as an economic engine for Pennsylvania,” Dominguez said.
Microsoft’s data centers, which are used for its cloud computing and artificial intelligence programs, will be able to run again after the restart of the Three Mile Island power plant.
Unlike power plants using fossil fuels, like coal or natural gas, nuclear plants do not directly release carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming.
Microsoft is betting on small modular reactor technology to make up for the lack of nuclear power in its data center plans, and is currently looking for someone who might be able to give them an idea for a plan last year. Bill Gates believes nuclear energy can help solve the climate problem.
“Pennsylvania’s nuclear energy industry plays a critical role in providing safe, reliable, carbon-free electricity that helps reduce emissions and grow Pennsylvania’s economy,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said.
The company will need Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval to bring the plant back online, and also state and local permits in order to do so. Constellation is also pursuing a license renewal to extend plant operations until at least 2054.
The deal will create approximately 3,400 jobs and bring in more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes, according to the company. It also said the agreement will add $16 billion to Pennsylvania’s GDP.
The Constellation Energy Electricity and Wind Power Generation Agreement (CEPA): Microsoft’s Nuclear Power Plants in the Next Fourteen Years
“Powering industries critical to our nation’s global economic and technological competitiveness, including data centers, requires an abundance of energy that is carbon-free and reliable every hour of every day, and nuclear plants are the only energy sources that can consistently deliver on that promise,” said Joe Dominguez, Constellation Energy’s president and CEO.
The largest power purchase agreement in Microsoft’s history was signed on Friday by Constellation Energy, the company that bills itself as America’s largest producer of “clean, carbon-free energy”.
Microsoft’s greenhouse gas emissions are getting worse and it is putting its climate goals at risk. Microsoft is planning to expand the number of power centers in Illinois, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio by the year 2025 in order to run its data centers on clean energy.
The Three Mile Island plant will come online again in fourteen years if regulators agree to the power purchase agreement with Microsoft announced earlier today.
