Microsoft and Constellation Energy partner to restart Three Mile Island nuclear reactor with $1 billion federal loan to power artificial intelligence operations.

Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier delves into the demand for energy amid developing artificial intelligence technology on'Special Report.' There has been little change in U.S. energy consumption over the past decade. Increased efforts to make energy use more efficient have kept levels low. But over the next five years, demand for electricity to power data centers is expected to more than double. Some estimates show the facilities are expected to require as much energy in 2030 as the entire country of Japan does today.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., receives praise for his less-than-formal attire from Sam Altman during a Commerce Committee hearing. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was one of the final senators to question OpenAI chief Sam Altman during Thursday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing, and the subject of both Three Mile Island and the Democrat's penchant for Carhartt outerwear came up. Fetterman said that as a senator he has been able to meet people with "much more impressive jobs and careers" and that due to Altman's technology, "humans will have a wonderful ability to adapt." He told Altman that some Americans are worried about AI on various levels, and he asked the executive to address it. In response, Altman said he appreciated Fetterman's praise.

A defunct nuclear power plant will be revived to power Donald Trump's new half-trillion-dollar project to make America the world's artificial intelligence powerhouse. The state-owned utility Santee Cooper -- the largest power provider in South Carolina -- said Wednesday that it is seeking buyers to complete construction on a partially-built project that was abandoned in 2017. The VC Summer Nuclear Power Station, which houses two unfinished nuclear reactors, was scrapped following years of lengthy, costly delays and bankruptcy by its contractor, according to a company statement. But now, the utility is hoping tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft will be willing to finish the project, as they are seeking clean energy sources to fuel data centers for AI. 'We are seeing renewed interest in nuclear energy, fueled by advanced manufacturing investments, AI-driven data center demand, and the tech industry's zero-carbon targets,' said Santee Cooper President and CEO Jimmy Staton.

Microsoft reported better-than-expected earnings on Wednesday fueled by growth in its Azure cloud business, as five of the "Magnificent Seven" tech megacaps roll out quarterly earnings this week. "AI-driven transformation is changing work, work artifacts, and workflow across every role, function, and business process," the company's CEO, Satya Nadella, said in a press release. "We are expanding our opportunity and winning new customers as we help them apply our AI platforms and tools to drive new growth and operating leverage." All eyes were on Azure, Microsoft's fastest-growing division that has received billions of dollars of investment as the company focuses attention on artificial intelligence. Revenue from the division increased by 22%, according to a press release. A day earlier, Google's parent, Alphabet, reported that its cloud business grew nearly 35% from a year earlier to 11.35bn, beating analyst estimates.

Three Mile Island (TMI) Unit 1, located in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, in Pennsylvania, generates 852 megawatts of clean, safe and reliable electricity for more than 800,000 homes. In 2009, Three Mile Island Unit 1 received a 20 year extension to the plant's operating license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. With license extension, Three Mile Island is well positioned to help meet the growing demand for energy well into the future as power needs across central Pennsylvania and the United States are projected to increase. The operation of Three Mile Island produces no greenhouse gas emissions and improves the air quality of the region.Kirk Condyles/ZUMA This story was originally published by Wired and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. For five years, reactor one at Three Mile Island nuclear power station in Pennsylvania has lain dormant.

When the Three Mile Island power plant in Pennsylvania was decommissioned in 2019, it heralded the symbolic end of America's nuclear industry. In 1979, the facility was the site of the worst nuclear disaster in the nation's history: a partial reactor meltdown that didn't release enough radiation to cause detectable harm to people nearby, but still turned Americans against nuclear power and prompted a host of regulations that functionally killed most nuclear build-out for decades. Many existing plants stayed online, but 40 years later, Three Mile Island joined a wave of facilities that shut down because of financial hurdles and competition from cheap natural gas, closures that cast doubt over the future of nuclear power in the United States. Now Three Mile Island is coming back, this time as part of efforts to meet the enormous electricity demands of generative AI. The plant's owner, Constellation Energy, announced yesterday that it is reopening the facility.

The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania will invest 1.6 billion to revive it, agreeing to sell all the output to Microsoft as the tech titan seeks carbon-free electricity for data centers to power the artificial intelligence boom. Constellation Energy, the biggest U.S. operator of reactors, expects Three Mile Island to go back into service in 2028, according to a statement Friday. While one of the site's two units permanently closed almost a half-century ago after the worst U.S. nuclear accident, Constellation is planning to reopen the other reactor, which shut in 2019 because it couldn't compete economically. Shares of Constellation Energy jumped as much as 22%, the most on record, to an all-time high on Friday.

Power-hungry generative AI models are quickly making Big Tech sizable energy requirements even more demanding and forcing companies to seek out energy from unlikely places. While Meta and Google are exploring modern geothermal tech and other newer experimental energy sources, Microsoft is stepping back in time. This week, the company signed a 20-year-deal to source energy from the storied Three Mile Island nuclear facility in Pennsylvania, a site once known for the worst reactor accident in US history. If successful, the effort would breathe life back into the iconic symbol of US nuclear power and potentially provide Microsoft with around 800 megawatts of clean-burning energy to help satiate its growing energy appetite. "This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft's efforts to help decarbonize the grid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative," Microsoft VP of Energy Bobby Hollis, said in a statement.

Microsoft is in the midst of a deal that would bring the infamous Three Mile Island nuclear power plant back to life, according to reporting by The Washington Post. If the name sounds familiar, it's because the Pennsylvania plant was home to a partial meltdown of one of its reactors back in 1979. The deal would make Microsoft the plant's sole customer for 20 years, meaning it'll hoover up 100 percent of the power all for itself. Why does the company need so much juice? It's for AI, which is notoriously power hungry.