Meta Inks 6.6GW Nuclear Deals for AI Data Centers
Meta signs multi-gigawatt nuclear agreements with Vistra, Oklo, and TerraPower to power its Prometheus AI supercluster, driving nuclear stocks sharply higher.
Meta just made one of the largest corporate nuclear power commitments in American history.
The company announced agreements with three nuclear providers—Vistra, Oklo, and TerraPower—that could deliver up to 6.6 gigawatts of clean power by 2035. That exceeds the total electricity demand of New Hampshire. The deals will fuel Meta's Prometheus AI supercluster in New Albany, Ohio, a facility designed to anchor its next-generation artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Nuclear stocks ripped on the news. Oklo gained as much as 19%, while Vistra climbed 16%. The broader market noticed: this is what the AI power arms race looks like.
The Deal Breakdown
Vistra: The biggest near-term impact comes from Vistra's existing Ohio nuclear fleet. Meta secured 20-year power purchase agreements from the Perry and Davis-Besse plants, totaling 2.1 gigawatts. Vistra will also add 433 megawatts of capacity through upgrades at those facilities and its Beaver Valley plant in Pennsylvania. Power delivery begins late 2026, with full capacity online by 2034.
Oklo: Meta committed to 1.2 gigawatts from the small modular reactor startup, with delivery targeted as early as 2030. Oklo's Aurora Powerhouse reactors produce 75 megawatts each, meaning the company needs to build more than a dozen units at its planned Pike County, Ohio campus. Pre-construction begins this year. The cost target: $80 to $130 per megawatt-hour.
TerraPower: Bill Gates' nuclear venture will provide 690 megawatts initially, with Meta holding rights to purchase six additional units totaling 2.8 gigawatts plus 1.2 gigawatts of thermal storage. TerraPower's molten sodium reactors target $50 to $60 per megawatt-hour—aggressive pricing that would undercut many renewable alternatives. First delivery: 2032.
Why Nuclear, Why Now
AI infrastructure demands are rewriting the power playbook. Training large language models and running inference at scale requires consistent, massive electricity loads—exactly what nuclear delivers and what solar and wind struggle to provide around the clock.
Meta isn't alone in this calculation. Microsoft signed a deal to restart Three Mile Island. Amazon has invested in nuclear through multiple channels. Google's Alphabet struck a $4.75 billion AI power agreement through Intersect Power last month. The pattern is unmistakable: hyperscalers are betting big on atoms.
Combined with Meta's earlier Constellation Energy agreement, these deals position the company as one of the most significant corporate nuclear purchasers globally. That's a remarkable shift for a company that was pushing renewable mandates just three years ago.
Oklo's Moment
The Oklo deal deserves attention beyond the headline number. This is the largest commercial agreement for small modular reactors in the United States, and it validates a technology that has faced persistent skepticism about commercial viability.
Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, owns a 4.3% stake in Oklo worth roughly $650 million as of Thursday's close. The company went public in 2024 through a SPAC that Altman co-founded. There's a certain poetry in Meta—Facebook's parent—buying power from a company backed by OpenAI's leader.
But Oklo needs to execute. Small modular reactors have promised cheap, fast deployment for years without delivering at scale. The Meta deal provides capital certainty that could accelerate timelines, but the technology still needs to prove itself in commercial operation.
What It Means for Energy Markets
The nuclear renaissance has legs. Utilities, grid operators, and energy investors should take note: AI power demand is creating a structural bid for reliable baseload generation that renewables can't fully satisfy.
For Vistra shareholders, the 20-year PPAs provide visible cash flows extending into the 2040s. The stock's 16% move reflects this—contracted revenue from a creditworthy counterparty is exactly what utility investors want.
For Oklo and TerraPower, the Meta commitment provides validation that could unlock additional deals. If these projects hit their cost targets, the economics could attract other hyperscalers facing the same power constraints.
The broader market rally this week absorbed the news positively. Nuclear-exposed names led the energy sector Friday, and the Prometheus announcement reinforces a theme that's been building: AI growth depends on solving the power problem, and nuclear is increasingly the answer.