Trump administration steers $1 billion to Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania’s shuttered nuclear power plant championed by Shapiro
“Constellation’s restart of a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania will provide affordable, reliable, and secure energy to Americans across the Mid-Atlantic region,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.
The U.S. Department of Energy will loan $1 billion to help finance the reopening of Three Mile Island, a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania that has been renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center.
The nuclear plant is owned by Constellation Energy Corp. and located on an island in the Susquehanna River just outside Harrisburg. The federal loan will lower Constellation’s price tag to get the mothballed plant running again, an effort that was already put on an accelerated timeline with the support of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro over the summer.
The plant shuttered its one functioning reactor in 2019 when its then-parent company Exelon said it was losing money and that state lawmakers wouldn’t subsidize it. The one other reactor at the Londonderry Township site was destroyed in 1979 in the nation’s worst commercial nuclear power accident.
“Constellation’s restart of a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania will provide affordable, reliable, and secure energy to Americans across the Mid-Atlantic region,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement. “It will also help ensure America has the energy it needs to grow its domestic manufacturing base and win the AI race.”
Constellation announced last year that it planned to spend $1.6 billion to reopen the plant as the demand for energy increases. The company announced a 20-year agreement with Microsoft to buy the power for its data centers.
Shapiro has supported that plan and touted pushing grid operator PJM to approve an early interconnection request for the site. Constellation employees celebrated with the governor in July with news that the plant’s last working reactor would be slated to open as early as 2027, a year ahead of schedule.
Joe Dominguez, president and CEO of Constellation, said in a statement this week that the DOE and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have “made it possible for us to vastly expedite this restart without compromising quality or safety.”
Constellation spokesperson Mark Rodgers said Thursday the loan “supports” the already-existing plan.
When asked for comment on the federal loan, Shapiro did not mention the federal financing or the Trump administration at all, focusing instead on his own administration’s efforts.
“In Pennsylvania, we’re doubling down on our legacy of energy leadership by taking big, decisive steps to build new sources of power,” Shapiro said in a statement. “As an all-of-the-above energy Governor, my Administration is supporting new energy projects from all sources —from natural gas and solar to geothermal and nuclear.”
“The Crane Clean Energy Center takes advantage of our Commonwealth’s energy assets and brings more energy onto the grid, creating jobs and more opportunity for Pennsylvanians,” he added.
A group of people who called themselves survivors of the plant’s 1979 partial meltdown protested the reopening plan earlier this year.
Trump’s administration has said bolstering nuclear power and artificial intelligence are among its priorities.
Constellation is working to restore equipment for the plant, including the turbine, generator, main power transformer and cooling and control systems. Its 835-megawatt reactor can power the equivalent of approximately 800,000 homes, according to the DOE.
The agency said in a statement that the reactor “will provide reliable and affordable baseload power,” in turn helping to lower electricity costs, strengthen the reliability of the energy grid, and “advance the Administration’s mission to lead in global AI innovation and restore domestic manufacturing industries.”
Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican who has championed embracing tech and energy in Pennsylvania, said in a statement that the state is “leading America’s energy independence and the AI revolution by providing safe, clean, reliable nuclear power.” He said the center brings 3,400 jobs and “carbon-free electricity operating 24/7 to meet our increasing energy demands and economic growth across the region.”
The loan is being issued under an existing $250 billion energy infrastructure program initially authorized by Congress in 2022. Neither the department nor Constellation released terms of the loan.
The plan to restart the reactor comes during a sort of renaissance for nuclear power, as policymakers are increasingly looking to it to shore up the nation’s power supply, help avoid the worst effects of climate change, and meet rising power demand driven by data centers.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.