LIMERICK, PA — The Limerick Generating Station in Montgomery County is among eight nuclear facilities slated for modernization under a proposed federal loan of up to $5 billion to Constellation Energy, part of a U.S. Department of Energy initiative to increase electricity production from existing reactors as regional power demand grows.
The conditional loan commitment would finance nuclear power uprates and equipment upgrades at Constellation facilities in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Maryland, adding nearly 1.1 gigawatts of generating capacity across the company’s fleet, according to the Energy Department.
The additional electricity would be sufficient to power more than 930,000 homes, based on department estimates, and would increase supplies across the PJM Interconnection and Midcontinent Independent System Operator regions.
For southeastern Pennsylvania, the inclusion of Limerick places a major regional electricity producer within the federal modernization program. Additional generating capacity at the facility would contribute to the PJM grid, which serves Pennsylvania and neighboring states.
The department has not specified how much of the proposed financing would be allocated to Limerick or how much additional generating capacity would come from the Montgomery County plant.
The financing remains conditional. Constellation must satisfy technical, legal, environmental and financial requirements before the department executes definitive loan documents and disburses funds.
The modernization program also covers Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, LaSalle and Quad Cities in Illinois, along with Calvert Cliffs in Maryland. The proposed loan includes an option to finance future uprates at additional Constellation facilities.
Power uprates increase electricity production at operating nuclear plants through modifications to existing equipment and systems, allowing utilities to expand generation without constructing entirely new reactors.
The Energy Department estimates that the planned investments would support more than 10,000 project-related jobs across Constellation’s nuclear fleet. It did not provide a separate employment estimate for Limerick.
The federal financing is part of the Trump administration’s effort to increase nuclear generating capacity by 5 gigawatts through reactor uprates and restarts.
In March 2026, the department launched its Utility Power Reactor Incremental Scaling Effort, known as UPRISE, to accelerate additional electricity production from existing nuclear facilities.
According to the department, projects representing 95% of the administration’s 5-gigawatt target have been identified.
“The Energy Department is accelerating President Trump’s American nuclear renaissance and unlocking the full potential of our nation’s nuclear fleet,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated.
The conditional loan is being administered through the department’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing.
Separately, the Energy Department has selected $45 million in funding to advance technologies that recycle existing nuclear materials into fuel for next-generation reactors, targeting another component of the domestic nuclear energy supply chain.
The research funding, awarded through the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, was announced Thursday by agency Director Conner Prochaska at Westinghouse’s eVinci microreactor campus in Etna, near Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators, Republican Dave McCormick and Democrat John Fetterman, supported the investment.
“This is exactly the kind of investment America needs to strengthen U.S. nuclear and stay ahead of China,” McCormick stated.
Fetterman emphasized the relationship between electricity production and national security.
“More national security requires more energy security, so this is an important investment here in Western Pennsylvania,” Fetterman stated.
The Westinghouse campus supports development and commercialization of the company’s eVinci microreactor technology.
The $45 million research initiative is separate from the proposed $5 billion Constellation loan. The research awards focus on domestic nuclear fuel technologies, while the conditional financing would support increased electricity production from existing commercial reactors.
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