Microsoft Commits to Pay AI Grid Costs, Restarts Three Mile Island Reactor by 2027
MSFT•Microsoft signed a March pledge to fund every megawatt and grid upgrade for its AI projects and plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor for production by 2027. New utility-scale plants need five to ten years, risking delays for Microsoft’s AI expansion.
1. Big Tech AI Power Pledge
In March, Microsoft joined Google, Amazon, Meta, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI in a written commitment to fund every megawatt of new electricity and cover grid infrastructure for their AI initiatives, ensuring all future AI compute demands are paid by the companies themselves.
2. Long Lead Times for New Capacity
Building a utility-scale power plant takes five to ten years from approval to operation, and Microsoft’s plan to restart the Three Mile Island reactor won’t deliver electricity until 2027 at the earliest, while competing projects like Google’s first Kairos Power reactor target 2030.
3. Strategic Risk to Microsoft’s AI Expansion
The extended timeline for new capacity creates a bottleneck for Microsoft’s AI deployment, potentially forcing reliance on interim third-party power arrangements or delaying major AI projects until sufficient generation comes online.
