Google funds an extra 96 electrical megawatts at four reactors in the US state of Georgia

The facts

On 21 September 2026, Georgia Power, a Southern Company subsidiary based in the US state of Georgia, and Google announced an agreement to increase the output of four reactors already in service: Units 1 and 2 at Plant Vogtle, near Waynesboro, and Units 1 and 2 at Plant Hatch, near Baxley. The work, which covers Georgia Power’s share of these units, is expected to add about 96 megawatts (MW) of new capacity, according to Georgia Power. These are electrical megawatts (MWe) delivered to the grid, the American Nuclear Society specifies.

The mechanism rests on a new tariff, called NU-1 (Nuclear Uprate). Google subscribes to it and, in return, receives the Zero-Emission Credits (ZECs) attached to the additional electricity. Georgia Power puts the projected benefits for its customers over the life of the units at about $900 million. The filing was submitted the same day to the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), the state’s utility regulator, which has yet to approve the agreement and the tariff.

According to Georgia Power, more than 25% of the energy produced in the state last year came from nuclear power. Vogtle Units 3 and 4, two AP1000 reactors connected to the grid in 2023 and 2024, are not included, the American Nuclear Society notes.

What a power uprate involves

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the US safety regulator, distinguishes three levels. The smallest, measurement uncertainty recapture, gains less than 2% through more precise measurement of feedwater flow. The so-called stretch uprate generally reaches 7% at most, within design margins, mainly through instrumentation adjustments. The extended power uprate (EPU), the option chosen for Vogtle and Hatch, goes beyond 7% and up to 20%: it requires replacing or modifying heavy equipment, such as high-pressure turbines, condensate pumps, generators or transformers.

Hatch has done this before. NRC tables list, for each of its two units, a 5% gain in 1995, an 8% EPU in 1998 and a further 1.5% in 2003. Vogtle 1 and 2 each received 4.5% in 1993, then 1.7% in 2008 thanks to more precise flow measurement (measurement uncertainty recapture). The Vogtle 1 and 2 EPU had already been approved by the PSC in 2025; the Hatch EPU is the subject of a new request in the 21 September filing.

Nationwide, the NRC says that uprates approved over the past twenty years have added about 6 gigawatts. Its cumulative table, going back to 1977, totals 24,089 thermal megawatts (MWt), or 8,030 MWe. The agency still expects 31 applications by 2032, amounting to 7,336 MWt or about 2,421 electrical MW. Hatch 1 and 2 are listed for the second quarter of 2027, Vogtle 1 and 2 for the fourth quarter of 2028.

Google’s nuclear portfolio

The agreement in the US state of Georgia adds to other commitments. In October 2025, NextEra Energy and Google announced the restart of the Duane Arnold plant in Iowa (615 MW), with a 25-year power purchase agreement and a return to service targeted for the first quarter of 2029, subject to NRC approval. DatacenterDynamics also lists a 50 MW contract with Kairos Power, a 200 MW contract with Commonwealth Fusion Systems, an agreement with Elementl Power covering three nuclear projects in the United States and a 22-year contract with Finland’s Fortum linked to the Loviisa plant.

Competitors are taking similar routes. In June 2025, Constellation and Meta signed a 20-year contract for the Clinton plant in Illinois (1,121 MW), starting in June 2027; among other things, it provides for an additional 30 MW through a power uprate. In volume terms, the 96 MW at Vogtle and Hatch count for little next to a full restart such as Duane Arnold, but they require neither a new site nor a new reactor.

Who pays, who benefits

Georgia Power presents NU-1 as a variant of its subscription-based renewable energy programmes, designed so that non-participating customers do not bear the additional cost of the work. Aaron Mitchell, senior vice president of strategic growth, sees it as the latest example of how large-load growth “can benefit all electric customers”. Lucia Tian, Google’s head of advanced energy technologies, describes the company’s data centres as “long-term investments” in the communities where it sets up, and promises “hundreds of millions of dollars” in direct customer benefits.

The local backdrop is one of rapid data centre growth. WRDW reports that Columbia County has approved a Google project representing at least $17 billion in private investment. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution points out that 10,000 MW of new generating capacity, mostly gas-fired, has already been approved in the state, and notes growing opposition linked to rising bills and a lack of public consultation.

What remains to be confirmed

• PSC approval of the NU-1 tariff and of the Hatch EPU;
• NRC authorisations, for which applications are not expected until 2027 (Hatch) and 2028 (Vogtle);
• the split of the 96 MW between the two plants and the schedule of works, neither of which has been published;
• the financial terms of Google’s subscription, whose contract is redacted in the public filing, according to the American Nuclear Society;
• a Department of Energy loan guarantee, described as still pending by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Why it matters

Big tech companies are signing nuclear contracts one after another, but the Duane Arnold restart is not expected before 2029. Uprating reactors that are already licensed offers another route, smaller in scale but governed by a procedure the NRC has applied since the 1970s. It remains to be seen whether the NU-1 subscription model, once approved, will be reused for the other EPUs the NRC expects by 2032.

Archive note

• The agreement was filed on 21 September 2026 with the Georgia Public Service Commission (dockets 44280 and 56002), which has yet to approve it.
• Hatch has already received three power uprates from the NRC for each of its two units: 5% in 1995, 8% in 1998 and 1.5% in 2003.
• The NRC expects 31 power uprate applications by 2032, for about 2,421 electrical MW; Hatch is scheduled for the second quarter of 2027, Vogtle for the fourth quarter of 2028.