DOE commits up to $5 billion for Constellation nuclear uprates
The conditional loan covers eight plants in Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania and includes an option for future projects at other sites.
Key facts
- Uprates to add nearly 1.1 GW across the PJM and MISO regions
- Projects span Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, LaSalle, Quad Cities, Calvert Cliffs and Limerick
- DOE launched UPRISE in March 2026 to reach 5 GW of uprates from existing reactors
- 94% of the 5-GW uprate and restart goal identified to date, per DOE
- Constellation must meet technical, legal, environmental and financial conditions before funding
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Dominance Financing said on October 27 it had made a conditional loan commitment of up to $5 billion to Constellation Energy for uprates and modernization across the company's nuclear fleet in Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The work is to add nearly 1.1 GW of capacity in the PJM Interconnection and Midcontinent Independent System Operator regions. The plants named are Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, LaSalle and Quad Cities in Illinois, Calvert Cliffs in Maryland and Limerick in Pennsylvania. The commitment includes an option to finance future uprate projects at additional Constellation sites, the office said.
Constellation must satisfy technical, legal, environmental and financial conditions before definitive financing documents are signed and the loan is funded.
The loan advances Executive Order "Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base," which calls on DOE to facilitate 5 GW of uprates at existing reactors. DOE launched the Utility Power Reactor Incremental Scaling Effort, or UPRISE, in March 2026 to expand capacity at existing plants. The office said 94% of the 5-GW uprate and restart goal has been identified.
The office said the projects would supply enough electricity for more than 930,000 homes and support more than 10,000 project-related jobs.