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Cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.

Danielle DeVries | CNBC

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — The owner of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is embarking on an ambitious plan to restart operations before the end of the decade, marking the latest chapter in the history of a plant that symbolizes the future promise, past struggles and lingering fears of nuclear energy in the United States.

The twin cooling towers that stretch hundreds of feet above the Susquehanna River just south of Middletown, Pennsylvania, went dormant in 2019 after billowing water vapor into the sky for four decades. Its owner at the time, Exelon, permanently shut down the Unit 1 reactor, citing “severe economic challenges.”

Unit 1 is one of a dozen reactors that closed in the U.S. over the past decade as nuclear industry struggled to compete against cheap and abundant natural gas. But the fortunes of the industry have shifted dramatically this year as deep-pocketed technology companies turn to nuclear power to meet the tremendous electricity consumption of their future business: artificial intelligence.

Constellation Energy, the plant’s current owner, plans to restart Unit 1 in 2028, subject to monitoring and approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Constellation, headquartered in Baltimore, spun off from Exelon in 2022; it has the nation’s largest fleet, or group, of nuclear power plants, operating 21 of the 94 reactors in the U.S.

“This is a plant that we ran and ran very well,” plant manager Trevor Orth told the NRC at an Oct. 25 meeting. “We shut it down. We understand how we shut it down, and we have a good idea of how we’re going to restart this.”

The main control room of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.

Danielle DeVries | CNBC

While Constellation will restore the plant, it will ditch the name Three Mile Island. The plant will be rechristened the Crane Clean Energy Center, after the late CEO of Exelon, Chris Crane. Constellation said the restart will cost $1.6 billion, financed by the company’s own funds.

(Take a deeper look inside the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant here.)

Microsoft has made the restart of Unit 1 possible through an agreement to purchase the full electricity output from the plant for 20 years, a sign of the growing role the tech sector is playing in shaping the future of the U.S. power industry.

Microsoft said the agreement is part of its strategy of meeting the growing electricity needs of its data centers with power that is free of carbon dioxide emissions in an effort to mitigate the impact of its business on the climate.

Part of a control panel at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.

Danielle DeVries | CNBC

Those data centers are playing a critical role in the U.S. economy, housing servers that run the cloud computing that businesses and consumers now rely on for life’s digital daily tasks. They are also essential for the development of artificial intelligence, technology that is viewed as critical for the nation’s future economic competitiveness and national security.

With four years until the planned restart, one of the big uncertainties is whether Constellation can deliver the power to Microsoft on time. Nuclear projects are notoriously plagued by long delays, big cost overruns and cancellations. But Unit 1 is in good condition and Constellation is confident the plant will restart on schedule, said Bryan Hanson, the company’s chief generation officer.

Most of the restoration at Unit 1 will be normal maintenance work that Constellation conducts regularly on its fleet of nuclear plants, Hanson said during an Oct. 30 tour of the plant.

“Not an ounce of concrete needs to be poured, not one piece of rebar needs to be tied, not one cable needs to be pulled. The infrastructure is here,” the executive said. “The challenge of delays — I don’t see it.”

A control panel in the main control room of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.

Danielle DeVries | CNBC

Constellation’s decision to restart Three Mile Island follows Holtec International’s decision to restart its Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan. Palisades is poised to become the first reactor to restart operations in U.S. history in 2025 after shutting down.

Holtec has plans to nearly double the power capacity of the facility in the 2030s by building two small modular reactors, next-generation technology that promises to make nuclear plants less costly and easier to deploy.

Amazon and Alphabet’s Google recently announced investments in small modular reactors.

While Constellation has not committed to building a small modular reactor at any of its plants yet, Hanson said the company is open to working with the tech sector to build new nuclear reactors in the U.S.

“If our customers come to us again, like a Microsoft, and say ‘we want to help you build new nuclear’ — we’ll probably join hands and figure out a way to do that,” Hanson said.

Lingering fears

Unit 1 is a short walk from the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.

The partial meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor at Three Mile Island in 1979 had a chilling effect on the development of new nuclear plants in the U.S. Unit 2 has not operated since the accident and is being decommissioned by its current owner, Energy Solutions, a private nuclear services company.

Unit 1 operated safely and efficiently before it was shut down for economic reasons, said Mike Goff, acting assistant secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy at the Department of Energy.

But Pennsylvania state Rep. Thomas Mehaffie said his constituents have mixed feelings about the restart of Unit 1, particularly those who are old enough to remember the accident at Unit 2.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Tom Mehaffie speaks in front of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.

Danielle DeVries | CNBC

“Of course people who were here during that time frame, who are older — there is concern. There always has been concern,” said Mehaffie, who represents the communities around Three Mile Island at the state legislature in Harrisburg. Mehaffie’s father was a union electrician who helped build the nuclear plants.

Hanson said the nuclear industry has learned from this chapter of its history.

“The 1979 accident taught us that our standards weren’t right at the time,” Hanson said. The U.S. nuclear industry today has the best safety, reliability and operational standards in the world, he said.

While some constituents have concerns, others see the economic value that the restart will bring, Mehaffie said. The restart of Unit 1 will bring an estimated 3,400 jobs to the region, according to a study by the Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council.  

Grid reliability

A cooling tower at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.

Danielle DeVries | CNBC

Federal energy regulators are worried that tech companies’ pursuit of deals that redirect power from the electric grid directly to their data centers could exacerbate supply shortages and threaten grid stability.

Microsoft said the electricity it will be purchasing from Unit 1 will feed into the grid and will not directly power its data centers. Microsoft is committed to bolstering the grid as it secures power for its data centers, said Alistair Speirs, senior director of global infrastructure for Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.

“When we operate in the community, if we’re not stabilizing, adding resiliency to the grid, then it’s hard for us to keep our social license to operate,” Speirs said.

Microsoft is not involved in the physical restoration of the plant, Hanson said, but Constellation is providing status reports to the company.

Restoration and restart timeline

Constellation laid out how it plans to restart the plant in the company’s first public meeting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Oct. 25. While Wall Street is generally bullish on the restart, Citi has cautioned that Constellation could face challenges in completing the project on schedule.

“Given the regulatory and physical challenges, we assume that [Constellation] is likely to experience some delays and cost overruns to execute on the restart,” Citi analyst Ryan Levine told clients in an Oct. 14 note.

Citi initiated coverage of Constellation with a neutral rating in October on delay concerns. Constellation’s stock has gained more than 90% since the start of the year and 12% since the Three Mile Island restart was announced Sept. 20.

Levine is an outlier. The vast majority of analysts rate the stock a buy or strong buy, with the average price target predicting more than 23% upside.

The turbine deck of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.

Danielle DeVries | CNBC

Hanson said crucial and expensive equipment such as the steam generators and main power generator have undergone inspection and maintenance by Constellation and are in good condition.

The steam generators were replaced in 2009 and are ready for restart, he said. The internals of the main power generator, built by General Electric nearly 50 years ago, were replaced a little over a decade ago, he said. The main generator has been cleaned and needs some routine maintenance, he said.

The plant’s main power transformers need to be replaced at a cost of $75 million to $100 million, Hanson said. The transformers are on order with delivery expected in late 2026, he said.

One of the cooling towers has been gutted and will be refurbished. The analog control room will remain the same with the exception of some rewiring, Hanson said.

The simulator that mimics the control room also needs to be restored so plant operators can be trained there. One of the most critical items for restoring plant operations is training operators for NRC certification, a process that takes about 18 months, Hanson said.

The turbine deck of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.

Danielle DeVries | CNBC

Constellation is currently prohibited from operating and loading fuel into the reactor vessel because the plant was permanently shut down. Constellation plans to file an exemption request in November that would remove these restrictions if approved by the NRC.

“That will officially mark the start of our restart activities,” Dennis Moore, senior manager of licensing at Constellation, told the NRC.

Constellation plans to file a request to change the plant’s name from Three Mile Island to the Crane Clean Energy Center in February. Later in 2025, Constellation will submit filings on the plant’s technical specifications, environmental impact, emergency plan, and site security plan for NRC review, the company said.

Constellation intends to send an operational readiness letter to the NRC by July 2027. The company would then begin testing and return to power if the NRC determines that the plant is ready to operate and authorizes placing fuel in the reactor.

In the meantime, Constellation does not need NRC permission to “start turning wrenches and doing restoration work” at the plant, said Scott Burnell, a spokesperson for the regulator. The NRC will be monitoring the work to make sure the regulator’s requirements are met, Burnell said.

The restarts at Three Mile Island and Palisades will likely secure NRC approval, Goff said.

“They are an independent agency, but I expect if the safety cases are presented, they’re going to approve it,” Goff told CNBC in September.

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At $28,000 off, is the Jeep Wagoneer S the best EV deal going? [update]

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At $28,000 off, is the Jeep Wagoneer S the best EV deal going? [update]

Like a 90s “gifted” kid that was supposed to be a lot of things, the electric Jeep Wagoneer S never really found its place — but when dealers started discounting the Jeep brands forward-looking flagship by nearly $25,000 back in June, I wrote that it might be time to give the go-fast Wagoneer S a second look.

This month, the discounts are even better.

UPDATE 23AUG25: I found you some even better EV deals!


Whether we’re talking about Mercedes-Benz, Cerberus, Fiat, or even Enzo Ferrari, outsiders have labeled Jeep as a potentially premium brand that could, “if managed properly,” command luxury-level prices all over the globe. That hasn’t happened, and Stellantis is just the latest in a long line of companies to sink massive capital into the brand only to realize that people will not, in fact, spend Mercedes money on a Jeep.

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That said, the Jeep Wagoneer S is not a bad car (and neither is its totally different, hideously massive, ICE-powered Wagoneer sibling, frankly). Built on the same Stellantis STLA Large vehicle platform that underpins the sporty Charger Daytona EVs, the confusingly-named Wagoneer S packs dual electric motors putting out almost 600 hp. That’s good enough to scoot the ‘ute 0 to 60 mph in a stomach-turning 3.5 seconds and enough, on paper, to convince Stellantis executives that they had developed a real, market-ready alternative to the Tesla Model Y.

With the wrong name and a sky-high starting price of $66,995 (not including the $1,795 destination fee), however, that demand didn’t materialize, leaving the Wagoneer S languishing on dealer lots across the country.

That could be about to change, however, thanks to big discounts on Wagoneer S being reported at CDJR dealers in several states:

  • Jeff Belzer’s in Minnesota has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $39,758 ($28,032 off)
  • Troncalli CDJR in Georgia has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,590 MSRP for $42,697 ($24,893 off)
  • Whitewater CDJR in Minnesota has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $43,846 ($23,944 off)
  • Antioch CDJR in Illinois has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $44,540 ($23,250 off)

“Stellantis bet big on electric versions of iconic American brands like Jeep and Dodge, but consumers aren’t buying the premise,” writes CDG’s Marcus Amick. “(Stellantis’ dealer body) is now stuck with expensive EVs that need huge discounts to move, eating into already thin margins while competitors focus on [more] profitable gas-powered vehicles.”

All of which is to say: if you’ve found yourself drawn to the Jeep Wagoneer S, but couldn’t quite stomach the $70,000+ window stickers, you might want to check in with your local Jeep dealer and see how you feel about it at a JCPenneys-like 30% off!


Original content from Electrek; images via Stellantis.


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New 50-ton SANY reach stacker brings Formula 1 tech to the job site

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New 50-ton SANY reach stacker brings Formula 1 tech to the job site

Multinational equipment brand SANY just launched a clever new 50-ton reach stacker that pairs gravity and an F1-style KERS system to generate electricity, improve operating efficiency, and reduce costs. The best part: they’re putting that smart tech to work by helping clean up (and shore up) the grid.

Short for Kinetic Energy Recovery System, KERS was a staple of Formula 1 in the late aught and 2010s. Essentially an advanced form of regenerative braking, KERS captured the kinetic energy of a car at speed that would normally be lost as heat when the brake pads pressed against the brake discs. Instead of heat, KERS converted that energy into electricity (storing it in a battery or flywheel), to be deployed later.

Sebastian Vettel explains KERS


4x WDC Sebastian Vettel explains KERS.

In practice, KERS gave drivers an extra boost of horsepower at the push of a button, enabling them to attack or defend their position on track and adding a fresh strategic element to the sport. In SANY’s case, that stored power is fed back into the reach stacker’s electric hydraulic system, reducing pressure loss across the high-pressure setup by 50%, and lowering the machine’s overall energy consumption by more than 60%.

Energy recovery is a key feature. The potential energy of the boom, lifting gear and energy storage cabinets during the boom’s descent can be recovered efficiently with an overall recovery efficiency of over 65%. That means every 1 kWh of consumption in lifting can be recovered by 0.4 kWh during descent.

SANY

The 50t reach stacker is available with a 512 kWh swappable battery pack that’s compatible with other SANY heavy equipment assets, and supports both DC fast charging when swapping isn’t practical or (for whatever reason) desirable.

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On a single charge and backed by the onboard KERS, that’s good enough for the machine can lift and move containers for more than 7 continuous hours, which SANY claims significantly reducing downtime for charging compared to other, similar equipment assets.

The new SANY reach stacker can stack six 50-ton containers, greatly enhancing a site’s container and battery storage density within a limited space. The first units will reach unnamed customers building out a utility-scale energy storage project by the end of this month.

Electrek’s Take


50 tonne electric reach stacker; via SANY.

All the great stuff I was saying about the new 65-tonne XCMG still holds true for the SANY (especially when they take the wraps off their own 65t BESS-specific unit later this year), but the SANY adds smart battery swap tech and what seems to be more efficient operations, too.

Regardless of which one you choose, it seems like the available options for reach stacker operators are just getting better and better!

SOURCE | IMAGES: SANY.


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Want EV charging at your apartment, as an owner or a renter? Click here

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Want EV charging at your apartment, as an owner or a renter? Click here

EVs are great, and can unlock more transportation convenience with the ease of charging at home. But for apartment-dwellers, this can be a complicated conversation. So a nonprofit called Forth is here to help, through its Charge at Home program.

One of the main benefits of an electric vehicle is in the convenience of owning and charging the car in the place it spends most of its time. Instead of having to go out of your way to fuel it, you just park it at home, in the same place it spends at least 8 hours a day, and you leave the house every day with a full charge.

But this benefit only applies to those with a consistent parking space which they can easily install charging at. When talking about owners who live in apartment buildings, it can sometimes get more complicated.

While certain states have passed “right to charge” laws to give apartment-dwellers a solution for home charging, apartment charging is nevertheless a bit of a patchwork solution so far.

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And as a result of this, EV ownership among apartment renters lags behind that of single-family homeowners. It’s clear that apartments are holding back people from buying EVs, and that’s bad – lots of people live in apartments, and the gas those cars use pollutes the air just as much as any other.

Certain areas where EVs have hit a point of critical mass (namely, the large California cities) have pretty good EV ownership among renters, but it could still be better. And residents are clamoring more and more for easy EV charging in apartment communities.

So, Forth, a nonprofit advocating for equitable access to clean transportation, set up a program called Charge at Home, which is meant to connect renters, apartment building owners or other decisionmakers with resources to help install chargers at multifamily properties.

The site lets you select your situation – a resident or a decisionmaker for a new or existing multifamily development – and then gives you access to tools for your specific situation, whether you be a resident and developer.

The site houses links to help design a multifamily project, find electricians, inform you about right to charge laws or available incentives, and provide case studies, among others.

Charge at Home also hosts roundtable webinars periodically, and includes a library of past webinars with the information you need.

There are a lot of considerations for each of these projects, so it can be helpful to have someone with experience to help you go over it all. Personally, when talking to friends about getting an EV, charging considerations are usually the thing that takes up the bulk of the conversation.

So if the toolkits are still too daunting for you, Charge at Home is offering free charging consultations for multifamily developers, owners, property managers and HOAs.

The charging consultations have been made possible by funding from the Department of Energy, though that funding only runs through the end of September – so get your requests in soon. Forth may still offer consultations afterwards, but is still uncertain about funding so doesn’t want to promise anything – but the website will remain up for people to submit questions and find information, whether or not free consultations stick around.

But at the very least, as Forth points out, whether a multifamily development is interested in having EV charging at this moment or not, any developer should think about having the infrastructure, conduit and capacity ready to go for future install of EV chargers, and should consider the needs of current residents who are likely already considering EVs today.

It’s going to be necessary to install this capacity at some point, and doing so earlier can help save money down the line, make your development more attractive to renters today, and allow more renters to make the switch to cleaner transportation which helps air quality and to reduce climate change, both of which harm everyone on the planet.

Electrek’s Take

I’ve long said that the only real problem with EVs is the problem of access to consistent charging for people who don’t have their own garage. Whether this be apartment-dwellers, street-parkers or the like, the electric car charging experience is often less-than-ideal outside of single family homes, at least in North America.

There are workarounds available, like charging at work, or using Superchargers in “third places” where you often spend time, but these still aren’t optimal. The best thing is just to charge your car wherever it spends most of its time, which is your home. When you do that, EVs outshine everything in convenience.

We’ve highlighted some projects before which showed how reasonable it can be to install charging for developments. Every project is going to have its complexities, but when you see projects like this condo complex that managed to install chargers for just $405 per parking spot, all of a sudden it becomes a no-brainer not to have EV charging.

But the fact is, there just aren’t enough apartment complexes out there which have EV charging. So if Forth’s program can help residents or landlords with that, it can go a long way towards solving the only real problem with EVs.


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