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NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) stock climbed 3.95% before the bell on Tuesday, after the company teamed up with Alphabet‘s Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) to resurrect an Iowa-based nuclear power plant that was decommissioned five years ago.
On Monday, the two companies agreed to revive the Duane Arnold Energy Center near Cedar Rapids, with operations expected to resume by early 2029 — a move widely seen as a response to the tech industry’s soaring power demand, especially for AI computing.
As part of the agreement, Google has committed to a 25-year contract to buy electricity from the 615-megawatt plant. Both NextEra and Google have also shown interest in exploring the potential of new nuclear technology.
"The revival of Duane Arnold signifies an important landmark for NextEra Energy," stated CEO John Ketchum. "Our collaboration with Google not only brings nuclear energy back to Iowa — it also fast-tracks the development of next-generation nuclear technology.”
NextEra has also reached agreements to acquire the 30% stake in the Duane Arnold plant held by Central Iowa Power Cooperative and Corn Belt Power Cooperative, which will make NextEra the plant's sole owner.
Ruth Porat, President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet and Google, said she sees this initiative as a blueprint for the kind of investments needed to expand energy capacity, ensure reliable clean power, and generate jobs that will fuel the AI-driven economy.
The revival of the Duane Arnold Energy Center is a significant development in the U.S. energy sector. It is a clear indication of the AI sector’s increasing reliance on nuclear power to meet its growing energy needs. This aligns with the observations of leading tech analyst Beth Kindig, who recently highlighted that the true bottleneck for the AI industry’s growth is rapidly becoming power.
In June, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) recently expanded its clean energy collaboration with renewable energy developer Invenergy to meet its power needs for data center growth and clean energy goals.
Last year, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG) to source carbon-free energy from the renewed Three Mile Island Unit 1. This was part of Microsoft’s efforts to align its PJM data centers’ power use with carbon-free energy.
On a year-to-date basis, shares of NextEra and Google have surged 20.14% and 41.60%, respectively, as per data from Benzinga Pro.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
