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Constellation fast-tracks Three Mile Island restart for

Microsoft ( MSFT ) data centers

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PJM Interconnection expedites grid connection for select

projects

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Nuclear power interest resurges amid U.S. electricity

demand

growth

By Laila Kearney

THREE MILE ISLAND, Pennsylvania, June 25 (Reuters) - The

former Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania may

restart in 2027, about a year ahead of schedule after being put

on a fast track to connect to the regional grid, executives with

the plant's owner Constellation Energy ( CEG ) said on Wednesday.

Constellation struck a deal last September to power

Microsoft ( MSFT ) data centers, paving the way to reopen Three

Mile Island, widely known as the site of a partial meltdown in

1979 that chilled the nuclear industry.

Constellation's 20-year power purchase agreement with

Microsoft ( MSFT ) is emblematic of the dramatic lengths Big Tech has

been willing to go to fuel its artificial intelligence

expansion, which began to intensify a year-and-a-half ago.

The reactor re-entering service at Three Mile Island, which

is being renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center, was not part of

the 1979 accident, and shut in 2019 for economic reasons.

"We're on track to make history ahead of schedule, helping

America achieve energy independence, supercharge economic

growth, and win the global AI race," Constellation CEO Joe

Dominguez said.

At the time of the restart announcement last year,

Constellation said it expected the plant to re-open in 2028.

Officials with the company said they expected the process to be

slowed by wait times associated with connecting power projects

to the regional grid, which is operated by PJM Interconnection.

Power projects can linger in PJM's queue, which is

essentially the application and engineering study process to

hook up a power plant to the broader grid. PJM's territory spans

13 states and the District of Columbia, covering about 67

million customers.

As a way to alleviate some of that bottleneck, particularly

as data centers rapidly proliferate on PJM's territory, the

country's largest grid operator has fast-tracked its

interconnection process for select projects.

As the technology industry drives U.S. electricity demand to

record highs, nuclear power has broadly seen a resurgence of

interest after decades in decline.

New York said this week it plans to build a new nuclear

power plant, which would be one of the first to be constructed

in a generation.

Despite the enthusiasm, nuclear power plant projects have

historically been far over budget and behind schedule.

No fully shut nuclear power plant has been restarted, but at

least one other attempted restart - of the Palisades nuclear

plant in Michigan - is under way.