The utility, Santee Cooper, is trying to sell two nuclear reactors that it abandoned in 2017 as tech companies seek new sources of electricity for data centers.
A major power provider in South Carolina started accepting bids from buyers on Wednesday to finish two nuclear reactors, hoping to take advantage of the recent interest in the energy source from technology companies.
The utility, Santee Cooper, wants to sell the reactors that were mothballed in 2017 before they were half complete. Its decision comes as the tech industry, which is rapidly building power-hungry data centers, has begun looking to nuclear plants for their ability to provide lots of electricity around the clock without releasing emissions responsible for climate change.
But delays and cost overruns have dogged nuclear power in recent decades in the United States. When Santee Cooper halted construction of the two reactors, at the V.C. Summer power plant, it left them less than 40 percent built and stalled a project once billed as a notable step forward for nuclear power generation in the United States. The company and a partner, South Carolina Electric & Gas, spent about $9 billion on the incomplete reactors.
Santee Cooper said it was working with the investment firm Centerview Partners to field proposals from potential buyers until May 5. The company added that it did not intend to own or operate the reactors once they are complete.
“We are seeing renewed interest in nuclear energy, fueled by advanced manufacturing investments, AI-driven data center demand, and the tech industry’s zero-carbon targets,” Jimmy Staton, Santee Cooper’s chief executive, said in a statement.
Initially proposed in 2007 — at a time when industry officials were predicting a resurgence in nuclear power — the South Carolina project grappled with a shifting energy landscape before it stalled a decade later. Improvements in energy efficiency caused demand for electricity to plateau nationwide during those years, while a hydraulic fracturing boom flooded the country with cheap natural gas, a lot of which is burned in power plants to generate electricity.