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Meta Strikes Long-Term Nuclear Power Deals With Vistra, Oklo and TerraPower

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Meta Platforms said on Friday it has signed 20-year agreements to secure nuclear power from three U.S. plants operated by Vistra and to support the development of small modular reactor (SMR) projects with Oklo and TerraPower.

The move underscores how large technology companies are seeking long-term electricity supplies as artificial intelligence workloads and data centres push U.S. power demand higher for the first time in two decades. Following the announcement, Oklo shares surged nearly 20%, while Vistra rose about 8% in premarket trading.

Meta said it will buy power from Vistra’s Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear plants in Ohio, as well as the Beaver Valley plant in Pennsylvania. The company said the agreements will help finance expansion at the Ohio facilities and extend the operational life of the plants, which are licensed to run through at least 2036. One of Beaver Valley’s two reactors is licensed through 2047.

In addition to power purchases from existing plants, Meta said it will help develop new nuclear capacity through partnerships focused on small modular reactors. SMRs are designed to be built largely in factories rather than on-site, which supporters say could eventually reduce costs, though critics argue they may struggle to achieve the economies of scale of traditional large reactors. There are currently no SMRs operating commercially in the United States, and all projects still require regulatory approval.

Meta said the agreements could provide up to 6.6 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2035. A typical nuclear power plant produces about 1 gigawatt. In 2024, Meta sought proposals from nuclear developers for between 1 and 4 gigawatts of capacity.

Under the deal with TerraPower — a company backed by Bill Gates — Meta will help fund the development of two reactors expected to generate up to 690 megawatts as early as 2032. The agreement also gives Meta rights to energy from up to six additional TerraPower reactors by 2035. TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque said the partnership would support rapid deployment of new reactors.

Meta’s partnership with Oklo is aimed at developing up to 1.2 gigawatts of nuclear capacity in Ohio as early as 2030. Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte said Meta’s support would help fund early procurement and development work.

Meta Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan said the new agreements, together with a deal signed last year with Constellation Energy to keep an Illinois reactor running for 20 years, would make Meta “one of the most significant corporate purchasers of nuclear energy in American history.”

Fermi Files for U.S. IPO Amid AI-Driven Data Center Boom

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Fermi, a Texas-based data center developer co-founded by former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, has filed for a U.S. initial public offering (IPO), joining a growing wave of companies tapping investor demand for new listings. The filing comes as Wall Street’s IPO market rebounds strongly post-Labor Day.

Fermi plans to build the world’s largest energy and data complex, integrating nuclear, natural gas, and solar power to meet surging energy needs from artificial intelligence. This marks one of the first major nuclear-backed investments since President Donald Trump’s May executive orders to accelerate nuclear licensing and boost U.S. capacity from 100 GW to 400 GW by 2050.

The company, still pre-revenue just nine months after its founding, closed a $100 million round in August, led by Macquarie Group. It projects rapid market expansion, citing forecasts that the global generative AI sector will grow from $64B in 2023 to $457B by 2027 (Bloomberg Intelligence).

Fermi has applied to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker FRMI and also intends to pursue a London Stock Exchange listing. UBS Investment Bank, Cantor, and Mizuho are acting as bookrunners for the deal.

The IPO comes alongside other high-profile listings this week, including StubHub and Netskope, both launching roadshows to raise hundreds of millions.

Talen Energy Weighs New Data Center Power Plans After Amazon Deal Hits Regulatory Snag

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Talen Energy is exploring alternative methods to supply electricity to data centers after U.S. energy regulators restricted a groundbreaking co-location deal with Amazon, executives said Thursday.

The move follows a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruling that capped electricity delivery from Talen’s Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania to Amazon’s data center at 300 megawatts, down from the 960 megawatts originally proposed. FERC cited potential risks to grid reliability and public electricity costs.

Context:

  • Co-located arrangements—where data centers are built near power plants to bypass grid delays—have become attractive to Big Tech and power producers amid surging data demands.

  • Talen’s Amazon deal, announced in early 2024, was a first-of-its-kind setup that aimed to rapidly scale power delivery without waiting for traditional grid connection queues.

Key Developments:

  • Talen CEO Mac McFarland said on Thursday’s earnings call that the company is now considering traditional grid-connected contracts and other commercial agreements to power future data center partnerships.

  • Despite the FERC setback, Talen is still supplying Amazon, with expectations to deliver 120 MW by year-end.

  • The company is appealing the FERC decision and expects a court schedule to be set soon.

Broader Industry Shift:

Talen isn’t alone. Constellation Energy, another major nuclear operator, also announced this week it is shifting focus to more conventional data center energy deals after facing similar challenges with co-location concepts.

Why It Matters:

The FERC ruling marks a pivotal moment in how power for AI and cloud-driven data centers is allocated—especially when nuclear plants are seen as low-carbon, high-capacity sources suitable for tech’s skyrocketing energy needs. The outcome of Talen’s appeal may reshape how future tech-power partnerships are structured.