Meta’s 20-Year Nuclear Gamble: Clean Energy Deal Stuns Tech Industry

While everyone’s been freaking out about AI eating up electricity like Pac-Man on steroids, Meta just locked down a nuclear power deal that’ll keep its servers humming for the next two decades.

The tech giant signed a 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy on June 3, 2025, securing 1.1 gigawatts of energy from the Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois starting June 2027.

The timing isn’t random. That’s when Illinois’ taxpayer credit program expires, and the plant was supposed to shut down. Now it’ll keep running until 2047, pending regulatory approval.

Meta stayed mum on the price tag, but this deal just saved over 1,000 jobs and preserved $13.5 million in annual tax revenue for the local community.

Here’s the thing about AI: it’s hungry. Really hungry. Data centers gobble up electricity like there’s no tomorrow, and Meta knows its AI ambitions need serious juice. By 2030, AI data centers are expected to double their power consumption, potentially surpassing Japan’s entire electrical usage.

Nuclear power checks all the boxes—zero carbon emissions, reliable output, and enough oomph to power 800,000 homes. The Clinton facility will even boost its output by 30 megawatts to sweeten the deal.

Meta isn’t the only tech giant going nuclear. Microsoft already cut a deal with Constellation last year to resurrect Three Mile Island’s reactor. Google recently secured nuclear energy from small modular reactors, joining the atomic energy revolution.

Yeah, that Three Mile Island. Amazon and Google joined a coalition pledging to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, with backing from Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. Apparently, nuclear’s cool again.

Local officials are thrilled. No taxpayer burden, stable jobs, and a massive company footing the bill to keep the lights on.

Union reps are practically dancing in the streets about job security. Constellation’s CEO made it clear: letting these plants die while energy demand explodes would be monumentally stupid.

This isn’t just about keeping Facebook’s servers running. It’s a calculated bet that nuclear power will fuel the AI transformation.

While everyone else scrambles for renewable energy that works when the wind blows or sun shines, Meta’s locking in two decades of guaranteed, clean power with an impressive 95% availability factor that ensures consistent electricity generation regardless of weather conditions.

Smart move or radioactive gamble? Time will tell.