Early milestones reached on hiring; naming; equipment inspections; building upgrades; permitting and licensing of nuclear plant restart
LONDONDERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa., February 19, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Just five months after announcing a landmark power purchase agreement with Microsoft to restart Three Mile Island Unit 1 and launch the Crane Clean Energy Center, Constellation is ahead of schedule on several key workstreams. An independent economic impact study determined that the restart will create 3,400 direct and indirect jobs, add $16 billion to the state’s GDP and generate more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes.
"Every new milestone confirms our belief that the Crane Clean Energy Center can be returned to service better than ever, restoring 835 megawatts of carbon-free energy to the regional grid at a critical time for Pennsylvania and our nation," said Joe Dominguez, Constellation president and CEO. "Major maintenance and upgrades are proceeding ahead of plan, new equipment has been ordered, and we are making tremendous progress on hiring and training the next generation of skilled workers to operate the plant at world class levels of safety and performance, just as before."
"Pennsylvania’s nuclear energy sector plays a critical role in providing safe, reliable, clean electricity – that’s why my Administration has been engaged in plans to launch the Crane Clean Energy Center to create thousands of jobs, ensure the reliability of our energy grid, and cement the Commonwealth’s position as a national energy leader," said Governor Josh Shapiro. "I recently proposed an energy plan to spark the next generation of energy projects here in Pennsylvania and build a more reliable, affordable energy grid, and projects like the Crane Clean Energy Center are going to help us continue to create energy jobs and power Pennsylvania forward. I look forward to continuing that work to speed up the development of new energy generation here in Pennsylvania."
Hiring and Site Readiness
To date, more than 200 full-time employees have been hired for a variety of good-paying jobs and dozens more have been recruited to fill key roles in the coming weeks. The next wave of open positions at Crane will be posted in March. Constellation plans to hire more than 600 employees prior to the restart, in addition to the hundreds of highly skilled contractors who will support the center’s safe opening and daily operations, mostly sourced from local union halls. Work is also underway to train and license reactor operators and senior reactor operators. To help prepare the site to accommodate its growing workforce, the main office building has been fully restored and enhancements to the training center and control room simulator are nearly complete.
Among Crane’s more than 200 recent hires are a married couple who used to work at the plant before it was shuttered, Tori VanderMeersch, Senior Manager, Operations Support and Services, and Quinn VanderMeersch, Project Manager, Fuels Special Projects. "After five years, it’s like coming home," said Tori. "We’re excited to be part of this new chapter at the Crane Clean Energy Center and to return to the community where we met to raise our family."
"With only a few hundred workers on site, local restaurants and businesses are already feeling a significant boost," said Bart Shellenhamer, Member, Londonderry Township Board of Supervisors. "We look forward to welcoming new families to the area and leveraging the many benefits that the restart will bring."
Inspections, Upgrades and New Equipment Purchases
Work continues on-schedule on the thousands of inspections and equipment upgrades underway to ensure a safe and efficient restart. To date, workers have performed rigorous inspections of the plant’s steam generator; main generator; rotor; turbines; feedwater heaters and condensers. One of the largest new equipment purchases required for the restart is for construction of three new main power transformers. That contract has been awarded and an additional $35 million investment will ensure the massive transformers reach the station safely in 2026, leveraging American rigging experts, electrical specialists, skilled craft workers and installers.
Licensing and Regulatory Filings
Constellation has filed an interconnection request with PJM to allow Crane to add its 835 megawatts of emissions-free power to the grid. Constellation is also on-track to file all the required licensing and regulatory documents with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which has the ultimate authority to approve the restart. Constellation participated in the NRC’s first public meeting about Crane on Oct. 25 and submitted its initial restart plan on Nov. 4. Today Constellation will participate in a second NRC public meeting to provide an overview of its emergency plan. On Jan. 13, Constellation filed a license amendment request to officially change the name of Three Mile Island Unit 1 to the Crane Clean Energy Center in honor of Chris Crane, a former company CEO and fierce advocate for America’s commercial nuclear power industry. All of Constellation’s NRC regulatory filings can be viewed on the NRC’s Crane webpage.
Community Impact, Engagement and Outreach
In addition to local hiring and economic development, Constellation has taken steps to engage and inform the community and support organizations that residents and community leaders value. Constellation will donate more than $1 million over the next five years in the neighboring community and region to support workforce development and nonprofit organizations dedicated to other needs. Constellation already has donated $25,000 to the Lower Dauphin Communities That Care Bookmobile and its Preschool Literacy Program and $2,500 to support the Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania, with plans to ramp up charitable giving in 2025.
"We can't tell you how much it means to have the renewed support of Constellation," said Angela Durantine, Program Director, Lower Dauphin Communities That Care. "Since the Bookmobile is our largest expense, it's great to know that we have the funds to cover those costs as well as being able to expand reading programs for area youth."
Constellation representatives have been meeting with state and local public officials; business groups; emergency management agencies and civic organizations to keep them up to date on the work underway to safely launch the Crane Clean Energy Center. Dave Marcheskie, Constellation’s community engagement manager, has been busy providing information to community leaders, residents and nonprofit organizations through facility tours, community meetings and events. In addition, Constellation has dedicated a section of its website to provide the latest updates about the effort.
About Constellation
Constellation Energy Corporation (Nasdaq: CEG), a Fortune 200 company headquartered in Baltimore, is the nation’s largest producer of reliable, emissions-free energy and a leading energy supplier to businesses, homes and public sector customers nationwide, including three-fourths of Fortune 100 companies. With annual output that is nearly 90% carbon-free, our hydro, wind and solar facilities paired with the nation’s largest nuclear fleet have the generating capacity to power the equivalent of 16 million homes, providing about 10% of the nation’s clean energy. We are committed to investing in innovative technologies to drive the transition to a reliable, sustainable and secure energy future. Follow Constellation on LinkedIn and X.
