The Lombard Review

Microsoft reopens Three Mile Island

Microsoft's west campus in Redmond, Washington, seen from about 1,500 feet, looking southeast.
Microsoft's west campus in Redmond, Washington, seen from about 1,500 feet, looking southeast. Photo: Jelson25/Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
By The Lombard Review
1 min read

In one of the most remarkable corporate transactions of the modern energy era, Microsoft has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement to revive the shuttered Unit 1 reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear facility. The deal will deliver 835 megawatts of dedicated, carbon-free baseload energy to power Microsoft’s expanding artificial intelligence data centres.

The Colenso Power Station, seen from the railway bridge over the Tugela River in the 1970s.
The Colenso Power Station, seen from the railway bridge over the Tugela River in the 1970s. Photo: Martinvl/Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Nuclear Power as Capex Substitute

The transaction marks a profound paradigm shift: tech titans are no longer passive buyers of grid electricity; they are actively financing the resurrection of commercial nuclear energy infrastructure. By locking in twenty years of dedicated baseload power at premium tariffs, Microsoft is substituting long-term balance-sheet commitments for direct utility capex. The race for AI dominance has officially merged with the nuclear energy sector.

The Anacortes refinery, Washington state.
The Anacortes refinery, Washington state. Photo: Walter Siegmund/Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.5

Microsoft’s revival of Three Mile Island proves that artificial intelligence compute demand has transcended silicon chips to become the defining catalyst of the global nuclear energy renaissance.

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