NextEra Secures Up to $1.9B DOE Loan to Restart Iowa Nuclear Plant

NextEra Energy, Inc. and the U.S. Department of Energy, acting through the department’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing, have reached a combined conditional commitment and financial close on a loan of up to $1.9 billion to support the restart of NextEra Energy’s Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa, the company announced on Sept. 8, 2026. Duane Arnold is a 615-megawatt nuclear facility in Linn County and Iowa’s only nuclear plant. NextEra Energy (NEE ) said the financing moves the company closer to restoring the plant to service and adding reliable, around-the-clock energy to the regional grid.

The plant, located in Palo near Cedar Rapids, ceased operations in 2020 after operating for more than four decades. NextEra Energy said it is pursuing the restart through a comprehensive regulatory, operational readiness and licensing process under the oversight of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other federal, state and local agencies, and that it continues to conduct extensive inspections, engineering evaluations and readiness activities at the site. In June 2026, the Iowa Utilities Commission issued a certificate to NextEra Energy authorizing the construction and operation of Duane Arnold, which the company described as another important milestone toward restarting the plant.

“Restarting Duane Arnold is about delivering new power to meet new demand while generating billions of dollars in economic value for Iowans,” said John Ketchum, chairman, president and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy. Ketchum said that bringing new generation online to serve new demand can strengthen the grid, create hundreds of good-paying jobs and help ensure Iowa families and businesses are not asked to bear the costs of growth.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy James P. Danly said the administration is pursuing what he described as a comprehensive nuclear strategy that includes restarting existing reactors, increasing the output of the existing nuclear fleet and accelerating new construction. “Returning 615 megawatts of reliable baseload generation will drive down electricity costs, while supporting thousands of American jobs,” Danly said.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said the federal commitment further demonstrates the importance of the Duane Arnold restart and future nuclear development in the state, and pointed to a bill she signed that provides incentives for nuclear power development in Iowa.

A study cited in the announcement estimated that the restart could generate more than $9 billion in economic benefits for Iowa over 25 years, create thousands of jobs during construction and refurbishment, support more than 400 permanent high-paying jobs during operations and generate approximately $75 million in tax revenue over the life of the project. An earlier description of the same study, released by the company in October 2025, projected more than 1,600 direct, indirect and induced jobs across Iowa during construction and more than $340 million in annual economic output during operations, including more than 800 jobs in Linn County during construction and approximately 400 direct, full-time jobs in the county during operations.

Google Power Purchase Agreement and Plant Ownership

NextEra Energy first announced the restart plan in October 2025, targeting a return to service no later than the first quarter of 2029, pending regulatory approvals. The plan is anchored by a 25-year power purchase agreement under which Google will buy electricity from the plant as a 24/7 carbon-free energy source to support Google’s cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Iowa. Central Iowa Power Cooperative, currently a minority owner of the plant, will purchase the remaining portion of the plant’s output on the same terms as Google.

NextEra Energy also signed definitive agreements to acquire the combined 30% interest in the plant held by Central Iowa Power Cooperative and Corn Belt Power Cooperative, a transaction the company said will bring its ownership of Duane Arnold to 100%. In addition, NextEra Energy and Google signed a separate agreement to explore the development of new nuclear generation for deployment in the United States.

The company said the Google agreement enables the investment to restart the plant and covers costs for the production of energy from Duane Arnold, and that energy customers in Iowa will not bear any costs associated with the power Google purchases from the facility. NextEra Energy said the DOE loan will help return Duane Arnold to service for its customers, describing the project as one of the most significant nuclear restart efforts underway in the United States. The restart remains subject to regulatory approvals, with the company targeting the plant’s return to the grid by the first quarter of 2029.