NextEra closes $1.9 billion federal loan for Iowa nuclear restart

The Energy Department closed a loan of up to $1.9 billion for NextEra’s proposed restart of the Duane Arnold plant. Google would buy its power under a long-term agreement.

By Stat Crux Report1 min read

Published September 12, 2026 at 9:22 PM ET

Archive photograph of the Duane Arnold Energy Center control room near Palo, Iowa, circa 1974. — U.S. Department of Energy / Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Duane Arnold control room, circa 1974; archive photograph, not the restart work. · Image source

The U.S. Department of Energy announced September 8 that it had closed a loan of up to $1.9 billion to NextEra Energy to help finance a proposed restart of the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Linn County, Iowa.

The 615-megawatt nuclear plant ceased operations in 2020. NextEra is targeting an early 2029 return to service, but the restart still depends on required licensing approvals from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Reuters reported that Google has a 25-year agreement to purchase the plant’s electricity, primarily to serve growing data-center demand. NextEra is the federal borrower; Google’s role is that of a long-term power customer rather than the recipient of the government loan.

Closing the financing does not itself authorize the reactor to resume operating. The company must complete the plant work and obtain the federal regulatory approvals required for a restart.