Amazon’s Bid for Nuclear Energy Rejected by Regulators

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2024 – Federal regulators have denied an effort by an Amazon data center to tap nuclear energy from a nearby power plant amid a push by more companies to use nuclear energy to address the high energy demands of artificial intelligence.

Regulators at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected Amazon’s effort Friday to provide additional power to its data center in Salem Township, Penn., from the nearby Susquehanna power plant.

FERC regulators decided in a 2-1 decision that the diversion of power was not necessary, despite claims by Amazon and other large tech companies that the energy requirements of AI were large and growing.

“Co-location arrangements of the type presented here present an array of complicated, nuanced and multifaceted issues, which collectively could have huge ramifications for both grid reliability and consumer costs,” Republican FERC Commissioner Mark Christie said in a concurring statement.

Christie and another Republican Commissioner, Lindsay See, outvoted Democratic Chair Willie Phillips. Two other democratic commissioners, David Rosner and Judy Chang, sat out of the vote.

Amazon’s denial comes as several other companies explore nuclear power as the solution for rising energy usage owing to AI. 

“​​Power demand in the United States generally increases very slightly year over year,” Competitive Enterprise Institute Research Fellow Paige Lambermont said. “Now that data center demand from AI is rising rapidly, this will no longer be the case.”

Microsoft entered into an agreement Sept. 20 with First Constellation Energy to restart energy production at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 2028. Google also broke into the small nuclear space, with plans to purchase multiple small nuclear reactors from Kairos Power to provide energy to its data centers. Google plans to begin operations with its reactors in 2030.