Tech companies are signing long-term deals and investing in nuclear firms to secure AI power

Witnesses described a recent string of private-sector deals in which large technology firms have invested in or contracted for nuclear power to guarantee long-term supplies for AI data centers.

Pat Schweiger, chief technology officer of Oklo, said Oklo had secured a pipeline of customer commitments and highlighted a "12 gigawatt master power agreement with AI and data center provider Switch," calling it one of the largest corporate clean-power agreements in history. Schweiger also referenced Oklo's partnership with Equinix as "the commercial advanced nuclear energy deal in the data center industry that included an investment from a data center company to a nuclear company."

Kathleen Barone of Constellation Energy reviewed other recent arrangements: Constellation and Microsoft announced plans to return the undamaged unit at Three Mile Island to service under a long-term agreement; Microsoft and Constellation were framed as partners for reactivating that site. Barone also said Constellation signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Meta for output from the Clinton site, and that the Three Mile Island deal would supply 835 megawatts to the PJM grid for Microsoft facilities in that region. The hearing record also cited reports that Amazon has invested in X-Energy and that Google has signed a 500-megawatt PPA with Kairos Power.

Members noted that these private deals reduce financing risk for first-of-a-kind projects by guaranteeing offtake. As the ranking member said, "the private sector needs to step up," and witnesses agreed corporate offtake can help move projects forward while limiting ratepayer exposure in some market structures.

The witnesses and members emphasized that these arrangements do not remove the need for federal action on fuel supply, permitting, and financing tools to scale deployment.