The restart of the Crane Clean Energy Center will play a large role in adding new megawatts to Pennsylvania’s electric grid, a Constellation Energy spokesperson recently told Exchange Monitor.
Last week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) greenlit the $167 million digital upgrade to Constellations Limerick Clean Energy Center’s control room. The upgrade is part of Constellation’s $5.1 billion investment across Pennsylvania to preserve 5,100 megawatts of power and add 1,200 new megawatts.
Constellation spokesperson Mark Rodgers told the Monitor by telephone last week that the Crane plant, formerly known as Three Mile Island Unit 1, accounts for 835 megawatts of the newly planned 1,200 megawatts. The facility was renamed Crane in May 2025 after former CEO Chris Crane who died in 2024.
Constellation hopes to have Unit 1 back online by 2027, Rodgers told the Monitor.
The remaining new megawatts are to be produced through a 300 to 340 megawatt uprate project at Limerick located 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Rodgers told the Monitor that the uprate is a customer dependent project, meaning it relies on the customer’s energy demand.
But Rodgers said Constellation expects the uprate project to happen. There is currently no timeline, he added.
Crane Unit 1 is adjacent to Three Mile Island Unit 2 which suffered a partial meltdown in March 1979, shut down in September 2019. The nuclear power plant remains more than 80% staffed with over 500 employees, Constellation has said.
Since 2024, Constellation has been considering plans to revive the former Three Mile Island Unit 1, with the NRC holding several public meetings on the proposed restart.
On Nov. 18, the Department of Energy announced a $1 billion loan for the Londonderry Township, Penn. nuclear power plant, financially backing its restart plans. According to DOE’s Loan Program Office, also referred to as the Office of Energy Dominance Financing, the restart is estimated to support 627 permanent jobs.