Google Pays to Bring Iowa's Only Nuclear Plant Back From Retirement

NextEra Energy and Google announced on October 27 that they will restart the Duane Arnold Energy Center, the 615 MW nuclear plant near Cedar Rapids that closed in 2020 after 45 years of operation. Google signed a 25-year agreement to buy the plant's output once it returns, and NextEra expects Duane Arnold to be delivering electricity onto the grid by the first quarter of 2029, pending regulatory approvals. The deal makes Iowa's only nuclear plant the latest retired reactor pulled back into service by data center demand.

Under the agreement, Google will buy power from the plant as a 24/7 carbon-free source for its cloud and AI infrastructure in Iowa, NextEra said. Central Iowa Power Cooperative, one of the plant's minority owners, will buy the remaining output on the same terms as Google. NextEra has signed definitive agreements to acquire the combined 30% interest held by Central Iowa Power Cooperative and Corn Belt Power Cooperative, which will bring its ownership to 100%.

The company said the restart is expected to create about 400 direct full-time jobs and deliver more than $9 billion in economic benefits to Iowa. "Through this agreement, we're enabling the investment to restart the plant and covering costs for the production of energy from Duane Arnold," the company wrote. NextEra chief executive John Ketchum called the restart "an important milestone for NextEra Energy," adding, "Our partnership with Google not only brings nuclear energy back to Iowa, it also accelerates the development of next-generation nuclear technology."

Google placed the restart alongside other tools it is using to secure power, from advancing new clean generation to making its own demand more flexible and deploying next-generation transmission technology. Duane Arnold sits in the territory of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator. Because Google's purchase is tied to its Iowa operations, the plant's output will serve load in the same state rather than being matched on paper against consumption elsewhere.