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Meta lines up massive supply of nuclear power to energize AI data centers

TECH

Meta lines up massive supply of nuclear power to energize AI data centers
TECH

TECH

Meta lines up massive supply of nuclear power to energize AI data centers

2026-01-10 05:53 Last Updated At:12:16

Meta has cut a trio of deals to power its artificial intelligence data centers, securing enough energy to light up the equivalent of about 5 million homes.

The parent company of Facebook on Friday announced agreements with TerraPower, Oklo and Vistra for nuclear power for its Prometheus AI data center that is being built in New Albany, Ohio. Meta announced Prometheus, which will be a 1-gigawatt cluster spanning across multiple data center buildings, in July. It's anticipated to come online this year.

Financial terms of the deals with TerraPower, Oklo and Vistra were not disclosed.

The Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta said in a statement on Friday that the three deals will support up to 6.6 gigawatts of new and existing clean energy by 2035. A single gigawatt, according to a general industry standard for utilities, can power about 750,000 homes.

“These projects add reliable and firm power to the grid, reinforce America’s nuclear supply chain, and support new and existing jobs to build and operate American power plants,” the company said.

Meta said its agreement with TerraPower will provide funding that supports the development of two new Natrium units capable of generating up to 690 megawatts of firm power with delivery as early as 2032. The deal also provides Meta with rights for energy from up to six other Natrium units capable of producing 2.1 gigawatts and targeted for delivery by 2035.

Meta will also buy more than 2.1 gigawatts of energy from two operating Vistra nuclear power plants in Ohio, in addition to the energy from expansions at the two Ohio plants and a third Vistra nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.

Vistra said that electricity from the three power plants — Beaver Valley in Pennsylvania and Davis-Besse and Perry in Ohio — will still run through the mid-Atlantic grid for all electricity customers. It also said the agreements with Meta “provide certainty” for it to ask federal regulators for 20-year license renewals for the reactors.

Tech companies have been under pressure in the stressed mid-Atlantic grid — which includes Ohio and Pennsylvania — to build new power sources to supply the entire electricity needs of their new data centers there.

Jesse Jenkins, an assistant professor of engineering at Princeton University who specializes in energy systems, said bringing Prometheus online without a new power source for it will only increase electricity rates across the mid-Atlantic grid.

Ratepayers in the mid-Atlantic are already paying higher electricity bills to support new and proposed data centers.

The deal with Oklo, which counts OpenAI's Sam Altman as one of its largest investors, will help to develop a 1.2 gigawatt power campus in Pike County, Ohio to support Meta’s data centers in the region.

The nuclear power agreements come after Meta announced in June that it reached a 20-year deal with Constellation Energy.

Associated Press writer Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

FILE -A Meta logo is shown on a video screen at LlamaCon 2025, an AI developer conference, in Menlo Park, Calif., April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE -A Meta logo is shown on a video screen at LlamaCon 2025, an AI developer conference, in Menlo Park, Calif., April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Authorities in New Mexico issued an arrest warrant Friday for director and Emmy Award-winning actor Timothy Busfield to face a child sex abuse charge.

An investigator with the Albuquerque Police Department filed a criminal complaint in support of the charge, which says a child reported that Busfield touched him inappropriately. The acts allegedly occurred on the set of “The Cleaning Lady,” a TV series Busfield directed and acted in.

The child said the first incident happened when he was 7 years old and Busfield touched him three or four times. Busfield allegedly touched him five or six times on another occasion when he was 8.

The child's mother reported to Child Protective Services that the abuse occurred between November 2022 and spring 2024, the complaint said.

Busfield's attorney and agent did not immediately respond to email messages seeking comment late Friday.

The arrest warrant, which was signed by a judge, said the charge is for two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor.

According to the complaint, the child, which it identifies only by his initials, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. A social worker documented him saying he has had nightmares about Busfield touching him and woken up scared.

The child was reportedly afraid to tell anyone because Busfield was the director and he feared he would get mad at him.

The investigation began in November 2024, when the investigator responded to a call from a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital. The child’s parents had gone there at the recommendation of a law firm, the complaint said.

“The Cleaning Lady” aired for four seasons on Fox, ending in 2025. It starred Elodie Yung as a Cambodian doctor who comes to the United States to get medical treatment for her son, witnesses a mob killing and ends up becoming a cleaner for organized crime.

The show was produced by Warner Bros., which according to the complaint conducted its own investigation into the abuse allegations but was unable to corroborate them.

Busfield is known for appearances in “The West Wing,” “Field of Dreams” and “Thirtysomething,” the latter of which won him an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series in 1991.

He is married to actor Melissa Gilbert; there was no immediate response to an email sent to her publicist.

FILE - Actor Timothy Busfield smiles before an NFL football game in Detroit, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

FILE - Actor Timothy Busfield smiles before an NFL football game in Detroit, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

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