The Biden administration pushed out two high-profile funding awards for clean energy projects—both billion-dollar-plus—in its waning days before feared shifts in sector financial and policy support take shape under the Trump government after Jan. 20.

The U.S. General Services Administration said it awarded on Jan. 2  a two-part contract with nuclear energy developer Constellation New Energy Inc., a unit of Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Corp., for more than $1 billion of power supply and energy services over the next ten years for 13 federal agencies affecting 80 facilities. These are located in the area served by PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission operator that covers portions of eleven Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states and Washington, D.C. The contract also includes power conservation and efficiency upgrades at five D.C.-area facilities. 

Shares of Constellation, which also announced the award, rose 8% upon the news, said a MarketBeat report.

The nuclear power purchase agreement is a "historic procurement" that takes effect on April 25, said GSA, which manages federal facilities and property. With more than 300,000 buildings and nearly 370 million rentable square feet in its portfolio, the U.S. government is the nation’s largest energy consumer, the agency said. 

Project construction is set to start this month and will continue through about mid-2029.

Constellation, the largest U.S. nuclear capacity owner, will gain an $840-million supply contract to provide more than 1,000 MW-hours of electricity annually. The company said the contract will expand or uprate capacity of its 21-reactor nuclear power fleet in the area served with funds to add at least 1 GW—about the equivalent of an entire new reactor. 

GSA estimates it will comprise over 10 million MW-hours over the contract’s ten-year term, enabling more resilience and reliability for federal agencies while protecting against price increases. “In the face of uncertainty over future electricity prices and increasing electricity demand from data centers and AI facilities ... this contract provides federal agencies with budgetary stability and protections from future price increases by keeping their electricity costs fixed for 10 years, while also continuing to bolster the domestic nuclear industry,” said GSA.

Going Nuclear

The energy will be supplied to the GSA, the Architect of the Capitol, Social Security Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Departments of Veterans’ Affairs and Transportation, U.S. Mint, U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, National Archives and Records Administration, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Reserve System, National Park Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in locations the agencies own or operate in Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio. 

Constellation's $172-million award under the contract covers work related to energy savings and conservation upgrades at the Elijah Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse, William B. Bryant Annex, and Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright federal buildings, all in Washington, D.C., and at Harvey W. Wiley federal building in College Park, Md.

Work will include LED lighting installation, weatherization, window inserts and replacements and new and upgraded HVAC and building control equipment to improve energy efficiency, cut emissions and reduce energy costs. Four buildings will be converted to electric boilers and heat pumps from current steam power systems. “The conversion upgrades will be some of the most significant energy conservation measures being undertaken as part of the project,” Constellation said.

GSA also will purchase 2.4 million MWh of new nuclear capacity, along with associated energy credits over the contract life. The new power supply—along with carbon-free power already on the grid—would allow agencies to transition from its current 40% level to 70% by 2027 and 100% by 2030, according to the agency.

The contract follows Constellation's plan announced last fall to restart by about 2028 its shut-down Three Mile Island reactor in eastern Pennsylvania as part of a long-term deal supply deal to power Microsoft Corp. facilities and data centers. “This agreement is another powerful example of how things have changed,” said Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez. The plant restart wiill involve an estimated $1.6 billion in capital investment. 

The contract demonstrates "how the federal government can join major corporate clean energy buyers in spurring new nuclear energy capacity and ensuring a reliable, affordable supply of clean energy for everyone," said Robin Carnahan, GSA administrator. Constellation will also provide preventive maintenance and GSA personnel training. 

Using federal buying power “to advance low-cost, reliable, carbon emissions-free energy sources like nuclear is a powerful signal to the broader market to drive new generation investment and new infrastructure to support it,” said Rich Powell, CEO of the Clean Energy Buyers Association.

Final $1.45B Loan to Solar Manufacturer

Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Dept. made final a $1.45-billion federal loan guarantee to Hanwha QCells, the U.S. unit of the South Korean manufacturer to support its solar panel manufacturing facility in Cartersville, Ga., the agency said Dec. 19. The plant, set  to start full-scale operations in 2025, would create 1,650 full-time jobs, generate 3.3 GW of solar panels annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than five million tons per year, DOE said. 

The facility, to integrate production of solar components such as ingots, wafers and cells, as well as finished panels, will be the largest ingot and wafer plant ever built in the U.S., said DOE, claiming it has "potential sales output of more than $2 billion." 

Qcells signed an eight-year, 120-GW solar and engineering, procurement and construction deal with Microsoft, with panels to be made in Cartersville. The manufacturer opened a previous solar factory in Dalton, Ga., in 2019, which it expanded in 2023 to produce a total of 5.1 GW of solar panels per year. Qcells has committed to spending nearly $2.8 billion to build out its solar supply chain in the U.S. 

Stantec, which along with Gray Construction make up the design build team for the Cartersville factory, says the enclosed facility will house the entire solar panel manufacturing process—the first in the U.S. to do so—including a wastewater treatment plant set to handle 5.5 million gallons per day for re-use into production needs. 

Across all DOE loan programs as of November 2024, the agency said it has attracted 210 applications for domestic clean energy projects totaling more than $324.3 billion in requested loans and loan guarantees,

But, in what appears to be a developing political tiff, DOE Inspector General Teri Donaldson urged the agency's loan office in a Dec. 17 interim report to immediately halt loan approvals for clean energy projects, claiming potential conflicts of interest between potential borrowers and contractors who vet them for DOE have not been adequately addressed. Donaldson, a Trump appointee, says her office's concern, outlined in the report, is amplified because the loan office informed it of an intent to finalize an estimated $22 billion in loans to 13 projects before President Joe Biden leaves office. A loan program spokesperson disputed the report conclusions, stating the operation is in "full compliance" with federal conflict of interest rules. 

Donaldson said she will issue a full report when the IG review is completed, but ranking Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have also claimed potential conflicts by the IG's office in its own use of contractors.