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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.”

Equinix Signs Multiple Advanced Nuclear Deals to Power Data Centers

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Equinix (EQIX.O), a leading data center developer and operator, announced on Thursday that it has entered into multiple advanced nuclear electricity deals, including power purchase agreements for fission energy and preorders for microreactors to support its operations.

The energy-intensive nature of data centers, especially with the growing adoption of technologies like generative artificial intelligence, has driven demand for large-scale electricity, raising concerns over power supply shortages. Equinix’s agreements aim to secure long-term electricity solutions rather than short-term fixes, according to Raouf Abdel, the company’s executive vice president of global operations.

In the U.S., Equinix plans to procure 500 megawatts of power from Oklo’s next-generation nuclear fission reactors and preordered 20 transportable microreactors from Radiant Nuclear. In Europe, the company has deals with ULC-Energy and Stellaria to eventually source power from next-generation nuclear developers. Equinix has also signed advanced fuel cell agreements with Bloom Energy, based in Silicon Valley.

These initiatives align with the U.S. Department of Energy’s pilot program for high-tech test nuclear reactors, which aims to have three projects operational within a year. The deals with advanced nuclear providers are expected to supply more than 1 gigawatt of electricity to Equinix’s data centers globally.