Meta has announced a series of nuclear energy agreements aimed at securing long-term, reliable electricity to support its expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company says the projects will help extend the life of existing nuclear plants, accelerate advanced reactor development, and strengthen the U.S. energy grid — all while supporting the growing power demands of large-scale AI data centers.

Meta said the scale of the agreements makes it one of the largest corporate purchasers of nuclear energy in U.S. history, reflecting how AI infrastructure is reshaping long-term energy planning.

Meta says its push into nuclear energy is driven by the rapid growth of AI workloads and the electricity demands of modern data centers. The company describes its data centers as the infrastructure that enables AI innovation, supporting the computing systems and devices designed to deliver new capabilities at global scale.

Innovation at this level, Meta said, requires significantly more electricity. Nuclear energy, the company argues, provides clean, reliable, and firm power that can operate continuously — making it well suited to support always-on AI infrastructure at scale.

As Meta builds increasingly powerful AI systems — including what it describes as “personal superintelligence” — its data centers require large amounts of dependable electricity. Unlike intermittent energy sources, nuclear power can deliver consistent baseload energy, which Meta says is critical for supporting always-on AI infrastructure at scale.

The electricity generated through these agreements will support Meta’s operations, including its Prometheus supercluster data center project in New Albany, Ohio, with power flowing into regional grids rather than being isolated to single facilities.

Meta said the nuclear energy projects are expected to generate thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of long-term operational roles, while supporting up to 6.6 GW of new and existing clean energy capacity by 2035. Beyond employment, the company emphasized that the projects add reliable, firm power to regional grids at a scale not typically supported by individual corporate buyers and reinforce the U.S. nuclear fuel and supply chain needed to build and operate power plants over the long term.

The company said the agreements reflect years of advance planning with electric utilities and power providers to ensure energy capacity is available before new data centers come online. Meta stated that it pays the full cost of electricity used by its data centers, saying consumers do not bear those expenses, and that its energy agreements are designed to support grid reliability more broadly as demand grows.

As demand for reliable, scalable, and clean electricity continues to rise, Meta said advanced nuclear technology could play a growing role in meeting America’s future energy needs. The company emphasized that long-term corporate commitments can help advanced nuclear projects move from concept to deployment by providing financial certainty and grid integration pathways.

Meta said its agreements with Oklo and TerraPower provide greater business certainty for advanced nuclear developers, enabling them to raise capital, move projects forward, and ultimately add new energy capacity to the grid. Over time, the company said this approach could help maintain grid reliability for all customers and support more stable wholesale electricity prices as energy demand grows.

Many U.S. nuclear power plants require long-term investment to maintain safety, reliability, and continued operation. Meta said its agreements with Vistra are designed to provide that support, building on an earlier nuclear energy deal that helped extend the operational life of a plant in Clinton, Illinois by 20 years.

Through new 20-year nuclear energy agreements, Meta will purchase more than 2.1 GW of electricity from two operating Vistra nuclear plants in Ohio — Perry and Davis-Besse — along with additional power from capacity expansions, known as uprates, at those facilities and at the Beaver Valley plant in Pennsylvania. All three plants deliver power into the PJM regional grid, which serves large portions of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.

The agreements include funding for plant uprates totaling 433 megawatts (MW), which Meta said will be the largest nuclear uprates ever supported by a corporate customer in the United States. The additional capacity is expected to come online in the early 2030s, increasing the supply of reliable, always-available electricity as regional demand grows.

Meta said its commitments help ensure these facilities can continue operating safely and economically while delivering additional firm power to the grid. The company also emphasized that consumers benefit from a larger supply of dependable electricity, while the projects protect existing jobs, create new roles, and support continued investment in local communities.

“This is an exciting collaboration for us at Vistra,” said Jim Burke, president and CEO of Vistra. “We are focused on meeting customer needs, and providing reliable, carbon-free nuclear power is something we’re proud to offer Meta. This agreement is beneficial in many ways — it powers American innovation and AI technology, while allowing us to extend the operational life of these plants, boost reactor capacity, protect existing jobs while creating new ones, and continue investing in the communities where our plants are located. Partnerships like ours are key in moving America forward in both AI and energy leadership.”

Meta’s agreement with TerraPower focuses on the development of next-generation nuclear reactors using TerraPower’s Natrium® technology.

Unlike traditional reactors, many advanced nuclear designs are intended to be smaller and more modular, with features designed to improve safety and make integration with existing grids more feasible.

The partnership includes funding for:

If fully realized, the agreement would support eight Natrium units, delivering 2.8 GW of baseload power along with 1.2 GW of built-in energy storage, making it Meta’s largest investment to date in advanced nuclear technology.

“To successfully address growing energy demand, we must deploy gigawatts of advanced nuclear energy in the 2030s,” said Chris Levesque, president and CEO of TerraPower. “This agreement with Meta is designed to support the rapid deployment of our Natrium technology, that provides reliable, flexible, and carbon-free power. With our first Natrium plant under development, we have completed our design, established our supply chain, and cleared key regulatory milestones. These successes mean our TerraPower team is well positioned to deliver on this historic multi-unit delivery agreement.”

Meta’s partnership with Oklo focuses on developing entirely new nuclear energy capacity in Pike County, Ohio, through an advanced nuclear technology campus that could come online as early as 2030.

The project is expected to add up to 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of clean baseload power directly into the PJM electricity market, supporting Meta’s regional operations. Oklo plans to deploy multiple Oklo Aurora Powerhouse reactors, based on proven fast-reactor designs with inherently safe systems, capable of using both fresh and repurposed nuclear fuel.

Meta said the agreement lays the groundwork for long-term investment in energy infrastructure, generating thousands of construction jobs, long-term operational roles, and new local and state tax revenue tied to the development and operation of the facility.

“Meta’s funding commitment in support of early procurement and development activity is a major step in moving advanced nuclear forward,” said Jacob DeWitte, co-founder and CEO of Oklo. “Two years ago, Oklo shared its vision to build a new generation of advanced nuclear powerhouses in Ohio. Today, that vision is becoming a reality through the support of a multi-year effort with Meta; to deliver clean energy and create long-term, high-quality jobs in Ohio.”

Meta emphasized that its nuclear agreements are the result of a competitive request-for-proposal (RFP) process designed to identify projects that could strengthen nuclear development across the full lifecycle — from new reactor construction to extending existing plant operations.

The company also stated that it pays the full cost of energy used by its data centers, saying consumers do not bear these expenses. Over the past decade, Meta says it has supported nearly 28 GW of clean energy projects across 27 U.S. states.

Q: Why is Meta investing in nuclear energy instead of relying solely on renewables?
A: Meta says nuclear energy provides clean, firm, and reliable baseload power that complements renewable sources and is necessary to support continuous AI workloads.

Q: How much power will these projects provide?
A: Collectively, the agreements are expected to support up to 6.6 GW of new and existing nuclear energy by 2035.

Q: Where will the power be used?
A: The electricity will flow into regional grids that support Meta’s data centers, including facilities tied to its AI supercomputing infrastructure.

Q: Will these projects affect consumer electricity costs?
A: Meta says it pays the full cost of its energy usage and that consumers benefit from increased grid capacity and reliability.

Meta’s nuclear energy agreements highlight a growing reality: as AI systems scale, access to reliable electricity is becoming a defining constraint — not just a technical detail. Training and running advanced AI models requires enormous amounts of always-on power, and traditional energy sources alone may not be sufficient to meet that demand.

For the broader public, this matters because large AI developers are no longer just technology companies — they are becoming major participants in energy markets. Decisions about how AI is powered increasingly affect grid reliability, electricity pricing, workforce development, and long-term infrastructure planning at the regional and national level.

Meta’s announcement also speaks to a growing concern about whether AI data centers strain local resources. The company says it pays the full cost of the electricity used by its data centers and structures its energy agreements to add new, reliable power to the grid rather than draw from existing supply — aiming to support AI growth without shifting costs onto consumers or competing with communities for electricity.

Similar commitments are emerging across the AI industry, as companies like Microsoft and OpenAI outline plans to fund their own infrastructure needs rather than shift energy and utility costs onto local communities. The common thread is a response to public anxiety that large AI data centers could strain local utilities, raise household bills, or divert shared resources like electricity and water away from residents.

By paying for their own power and adding new capacity to the grid, these agreements aim to decouple AI growth from everyday cost-of-living pressures. As AI becomes more embedded in daily life, how it is powered — and who pays for that power — may matter just as much as what the technology itself can do.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.