META'S NUCLEAR BET TO POWER AI RAISES STAKES FOR TECH AND ENVIRONMENT

Can a social media giant’s hunger for artificial intelligence reshape America’s energy landscape? Earlier this week, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, struck a 20-year deal with Constellation Energy to secure nuclear power for its AI-driven data centers, a move that keeps an Illinois nuclear plant running beyond its planned 2027 closure.

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For U.S. consumers, environmentalists, and tech industry observers, this partnership signals a seismic shift in how tech giants address the soaring energy demands of AI, but it also prompts tough questions about sustainability, cost, and nuclear reliance in a $2 trillion tech market.

The agreement, expanding the output of Constellation’s Clinton Clean Energy Center, aligns Meta with a growing trend among tech firms seeking clean energy to meet AI's computational needs. Yet, with no financial details disclosed and nuclear power's checkered history, the deal invites scrutiny: Is Meta pioneering a green revolution, or masking its energy footprint with a convenient fix?

A SOCIAL GIANT’S ENERGY PIVOT

In Silicon Valley's race for AI supremacy, power is the new bottleneck. Meta’s data centers, crunching vast datasets for algorithms, demand electricity that outstrips traditional grids. The company’s 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy, announced on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, secures nuclear power from the Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois to fuel these ambitions. The deal ensures the plant, slated for closure in 2017 but extended to 2027 through state subsidies, will continue operating, bolstering Meta’s AI infrastructure.

The Clinton plant, saved by Illinois’ zero-emission credit program, provides enough electricity to power over 800,000 homes, a capacity now partly redirected to Meta’s needs. The agreement expands the plant’s output, though specific financial terms were not disclosed, leaving questions about the deal’s cost to Meta's $1.5 trillion valuation. This partnership marks Meta as the latest tech giant to embrace nuclear energy, following similar moves by other industry leaders, as the computational demands of Al grow exponentially.