Constellation Energy Stock Jumps After-Hours On $1B DOE Loan For Three Mile Island Restart — Will NextEra Be Trump’s Next Nuclear Favorite?

• The loan would cover the majority of the estimated project startup costs, pegged at around $1.6 billion, with the first advance expected in the first quarter of 2026.
• During the recent gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, the victorious Democratic candidates made higher electricity rates a key issue in their respective campaigns.
• Earlier this year, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin construction of conventional reactors and to use government funds to support the restart of shuttered nuclear plants.

Constellation Energy stock rose 2.8% in extended trading on Tuesday after the power producer sealed a $1 billion loan from the Department of Energy (DOE) for the planned restart of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.

Last year, Constellation said it would open the reactor and rename it to Crane Clean Energy Center to supply reliable power to Microsoft’s data centers in the region. The company aims to restart the facility as soon as mid-2027.

Federal Aid Comes To Keep Power Prices In Check

This marks the first time the DOE Loan Programs Office has concurrently finalized a conditional loan commitment and financial close, keeping in mind Constellation’s robust finances, aided by its status as one of the country’s top power producers. The loan would cover the majority of the estimated startup cost of the project, pegged at around $1.6 billion, with the first advance expected in the first quarter of 2026, according to a CNBC report citing Greg Beard, senior advisor to the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office.

Beard reportedly said Tuesday that Constellation could have funded the facility on its own, but the loan will help make electricity cheaper for consumers on the PJM Interconnection grid, which serves more than 65 million people across 13 states. “This loan to Constellation will lower the cost of capital and make power cheaper for those PJM ratepayers.”

During the recent gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, the victorious Democratic candidates made higher electricity rates a key issue in their respective campaigns. Large-scale infrastructure investments by U.S. utilities are expected to raise power prices next year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasted wholesale power prices to rise 8.5% to $51/megawatt-hour in 2026, up from $47/MWh in 2025.

The Three Mile Island Unit 1, which Constellation aims to restart, was shut in 2019 as the firm deemed it economically unviable. The plant’s Unit 2 is the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history, as it suffered a partial meltdown in 1979.

What Are Stocktwits Users Thinking?

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about Constellation Energy moved to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ a day ago.

Funding Puts Other Candidates, Including NextEra’s Iowa Plant, In Spotlight

Nuclear Energy enjoys rare bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers advocating expansion. Earlier this year, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin construction of 10 large conventional reactors by 2030 and to use government funds to support the restart of shuttered nuclear plants.

Last month, NextEra Energy and Google announced they had signed an agreement to restart the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant in Iowa to power the tech giant’s cloud infrastructure. The nuclear plant, located near Cedar Rapids, was shut down five years ago.

As per the report, when Beard was asked whether NextEra would receive a loan for Duane Arnold, he told CNBC that Trump’s executive orders direct the Energy Department to “prioritize the restart of nuclear reactors.”

Constellation Energy stock has gained nearly 50% this year, while NextEra stock is up 16.8%.

Also See: Why Did Plug Power Stock Plunge 21% After-Hours Today?

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