US retailer Walmart has signed a long-term nuclear power purchase agreement (PPA) for electricity from Constellation’s Dresden Clean Energy Center in Illinois. The agreement includes approximately 176 MWe of wholesale supply, including 30 MWe of expanded generating capacity. Walmart will purchase energy, environmental attributes and capacity through two 15‑year terms beginning in 2029 and 2030.
Dresden units 2&3 are BWR-3 (Mark 1) boiling water reactors commissioned in 1970 and 1971 with capacities of 950 MWe and 935 MWe respectively.
Through uprates at the Dresden Clean Energy Center, this agreement will provide enough new power to the grid to support Walmart’s previously announced high-tech perishable distribution centre, currently in development in Belvidere, Ill.
“This agreement reflects long‑term stewardship of critical infrastructure, the communities it serves, and the energy system that powers American growth,” said Jim McHugh, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Constellation. “Walmart’s commitment enables meaningful investment in the Dresden Clean Energy Center, bolstering reliability, sustaining local jobs and economic activity, and putting more dependable, emissions-free energy onto the Illinois power grid.”
Constellation and Walmart both have a longstanding presence in Illinois. Constellation produces enough energy to power more than 8m homes, and Walmart’s retail operations total approximately 175 stores and clubs with more than 55,000 associates in the state.
This agreement marks Walmart’s first nuclear PPA and is among the first of its kind between a large retailer and a nuclear energy facility in the US. The agreement follows Constellation’s December 2025 licence renewal announcement for the Dresden units, which are now licensed to operate to 2049 and 2051. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission at the same time renewed the operating licence for unit 1 at Constellation’s Clinton Clean Energy Center, both in Illinois. In August 2025. Constellation signed an agreement with Facebook parent Meta to buy electricity generated by the Clinton plant for the next 20 years.
Constellation is the largest private-sector power producer in the world and the largest producer of clean energy in the US. Constellation’s clean energy portfolio includes 26 nuclear reactors in six states.
