Amazon Backs AEP's 960 MW Nuclear Study Without Shifting Cost to Customers

American Electric Power, Amazon and X-energy are evaluating a 960-megawatt advanced nuclear project in Indiana, with a structure designed to prevent existing utility customers from paying for Amazon's power demand.

The companies are studying the former Breed coal plant site in Sullivan County. The initial design would use twelve X-energy Xe-100 reactors, each rated at 80 megawatts and arranged in groups of four.

Feasibility comes before construction

A joint development agreement authorizes evaluation, not a final investment decision. The partners still need to complete technical work, secure regulatory approvals, establish costs and decide whether to build.

Amazon will provide milestone-based development capital. If the plant reaches construction and commercial operation, Amazon intends to buy the electricity under a long-term contract that covers the facility's costs and operations for the contract term.

That arrangement matters for AEP. Nuclear projects can expose utilities and ratepayers to construction delays and cost overruns. AEP chief executive Bill Fehrman said the agreements include the capital protections and financial safeguards the company requires before proceeding.

A long-duration power option

The plant could operate for more than 60 years and would add firm power to a grid facing rapid data-center demand. Unlike wind and solar, a nuclear plant can run around the clock, though maintenance outages and fuel management still matter.

The Indiana proposal is the second commercial development under Amazon and X-energy's collaboration, which targets more than 5 gigawatts of new U.S. nuclear capacity by 2039. X-energy says its broader announced pipeline is about 11.5 gigawatts.

Those figures are targets and project pipelines, not operating capacity. Advanced reactors still face licensing, manufacturing and construction risk. The Indiana project's value will become clearer only after the feasibility study identifies a schedule, total cost and regulatory path.

For AEP shareholders, the customer-funded structure is the most important detail. The project could add long-term contracted demand without asking current customers to underwrite an unproven build, but that protection must survive the final contracts.