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Amazon and Meta did not receive a blanket rejection of nuclear power. They encountered two different kinds of regulatory friction: the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected an Amazon-linked expansion of electricity demand at Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna nuclear plant, while Meta reportedly faced environmental and land-use complications for a data-center site near another reactor. Together, the cases show that nuclear electricity is not a shortcut around grid rules, cost-allocation safeguards or ordinary development permits.
What happened to Amazon’s Susquehanna proposal?
On November 1, 2024, FERC rejected an amended interconnection agreement in docket ER24-2172 involving PJM Interconnection, Susquehanna Nuclear and PPL Electric Utilities. The proposal would have increased data-center load located alongside the Susquehanna nuclear plant from 300 megawatts (MW) to 480 MW—an additional 180 MW. The commission’s order is available at FERC’s order.
This arrangement is commonly described as co-location or behind-the-meter service. The data center would sit on the generator’s side of the grid interconnection point and could receive electricity directly from the plant. That physical setup does not place it outside regulation: the arrangement still has to fit PJM’s tariff, interconnection rules and wholesale-market obligations.
FERC treated the filing as a non-conforming interconnection agreement. Under that standard, the parties had to show why unusual terms were necessary and legally supportable. The majority concluded that the record did not meet that high burden and rejected the amendment.
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Why FERC focused on the grid, not on nuclear technology
The dispute involved how a very large industrial load would interact with the regional power system. A nuclear plant’s generation, its commitments to the wholesale market and the data center’s need for uninterrupted service are related but not identical questions.
- Outages and backup: If the reactor trips, enters planned maintenance or reduces output, the data center may still need electricity. Regulators asked how replacement power would be supplied and paid for.
- Market obligations: The plant may already have commitments in PJM’s energy and capacity markets. FERC examined whether output could effectively be counted for multiple purposes.
- Transmission access: A co-located customer can reduce use of some transmission facilities, but the legal treatment of that service must still be consistent with PJM’s tariff.
- Cost allocation: Opponents raised concerns that special treatment could shift reliability or system costs to other customers.
- Precedent: A decision for one 480-MW campus could influence many future nuclear-plant and data-center pairings.
Those were regulatory-record and market-design concerns, not a finding that nuclear-powered data centers are inherently impermissible.
The FERC decision was not unanimous—and was not necessarily the last word
Chairman Willie Phillips dissented. He argued that the proposed safeguards addressed reliability concerns and that rejecting the arrangement could create unnecessary obstacles for data-center construction and U.S. artificial-intelligence competitiveness. His position appears in his dissent.
Commissioner Mark Christie concurred separately. He stressed the need for a better record on reliability and consumer-cost effects, while describing the rejection as without prejudice—meaning a better-supported proposal could potentially be filed. See Christie’s concurrence.
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What happened to Meta’s nuclear-adjacent data center?
Meta was exploring an artificial-intelligence data center near an operating nuclear plant. The attraction was a nearby source of continuous, low-carbon electricity without waiting for a completely new reactor.
Contemporary reporting said the site encountered environmental and land-use complications, including the reported discovery of a rare bee species. The account was reported by TechCrunch, citing reporting by the Financial Times. The available evidence does not identify a final permit denial, a confirmed species designation, or a formal agency ruling that stopped the project because of the bee. The issue should therefore be understood as a reported site-development hurdle, not as proof that regulators rejected nuclear electricity.
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A nuclear-adjacent campus still needs the approvals required for any major industrial project. Depending on the site, that can include land-use permissions, biological and wetlands reviews, water and cooling approvals, construction authorizations, noise controls and local infrastructure agreements.
Amazon and Meta faced different obstacles
| Company | Project model | Immediate obstacle | What was not rejected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | Co-located data-center load at Susquehanna | FERC rejection of an amended interconnection agreement raising load from 300 MW to 480 MW | Nuclear generation as a technology or every future co-location proposal |
| Meta | Data center near an operating nuclear plant | Reported environmental and site-development complications | Nuclear power generally or a documented final project-wide prohibition |
Combining the stories into one anti-nuclear decision obscures the important distinction: Amazon’s case was principally about wholesale electricity and interconnection rules; Meta’s reported issue was principally about land and environmental development.
What “behind the meter” does—and does not—mean
A behind-the-meter customer is connected on the generator’s side of the grid’s accounting point. It may take electricity directly from the generator and use less ordinary transmission service. It may still require supplemental or backup service from the grid, and its rights and charges depend on tariffs, contracts and operating rules.
The Susquehanna case demonstrates why “behind the meter” is not synonymous with “unregulated.” FERC still had to assess the proposed interconnection agreement, PJM’s obligations and the effects on other market participants.
Nuclear supply options that remain available
Contracts with existing reactors
A company can buy electricity or environmental attributes from an operating plant. This can support an existing reactor more quickly than building a new one, but it does not necessarily deliver the plant’s physical electrons to a particular data-center campus.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteZero-emissions credits
Zero-emissions credits financially support generation associated with zero-carbon electricity. They can preserve a reactor’s economics without creating a private physical connection between the reactor and the buyer.
Power-purchase agreements
A long-term power-purchase agreement commits a buyer to electricity under negotiated terms and may support project financing or continued operation. A PPA can be financial or contractual rather than a dedicated wire to the buyer’s facility.
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Small modular reactor investments and offtake
Investing in an SMR developer or agreeing to buy future output offers a possible dedicated source, but it carries technology, licensing, financing, construction and schedule risk. A memorandum, option or offtake commitment is not an operating reactor.
New nuclear construction
Building a new plant could provide dedicated generation, but it requires the longest timeline and the greatest capital commitment, including licensing, financing, construction and grid approvals.
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A 2025 industry-status compilation described Amazon commitments involving Talen, X-energy, Energy Northwest and Dominion, including an expanded Talen-related arrangement of up to 1,920 MW. It also reported that Meta sought proposals for up to 4 gigawatts and entered a zero-emissions-credit arrangement associated with Constellation’s 1,120-MW Clinton reactor. These figures describe contractual, proposed or reported arrangements—not proof that either company owns a reactor or has immediate physical access to all that capacity. Source: World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2025 archive.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What regulators and investors should examine next
- Reliability plan: Identify what supplies the campus during reactor outages, deratings, transmission constraints and system emergencies.
- Backup responsibility: Determine which party procures replacement power and who pays for it.
- Capacity accounting: Check that the same megawatts are not being credited simultaneously to incompatible obligations.
- Tariff compliance: Test whether the physical arrangement fits regional transmission and interconnection rules.
- Cost allocation: Quantify whether other ratepayers or market participants bear new costs.
- Environmental record: Review species, wetlands, water, cooling, noise and construction permits rather than relying on project announcements.
- Project maturity: Distinguish an announcement, request for proposals, memorandum, permit application, financing close, construction start and commercial operation.
- Physical versus financial supply: Establish whether the company receives dedicated electricity, market purchases, credits or only a financial claim on generation.
What the setbacks mean for Big Tech’s nuclear strategy
The November 2024 events exposed a deployment problem, not a technological verdict against nuclear power. Hyperscale data centers can require hundreds of megawatts, making their electricity arrangements material to wholesale markets, transmission planning, local development and consumer costs.
For Amazon, a revised filing or a different contractual structure could still be possible, subject to later proceedings. For Meta, the reported site complications show that proximity to a reactor does not eliminate ordinary environmental review. Both companies can pursue contracts, credits, SMR investments or new construction while those specific projects work through their respective approvals.
The policy question is whether regulators should create standardized co-location rules with dedicated backup and cost safeguards, or apply existing market rules case by case. Until that question is resolved, nuclear can provide valuable low-carbon power for AI growth—but only through arrangements that satisfy grid, market and land-use requirements.
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