Santee Cooper, a state-owned utility in South Carolina, is seeking partners to help finance and complete the two reactors at the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Power Station, a project that was halted eight years ago due to massive cost overruns and delays. The utility is hoping to capitalize on the growing demand for power from data centers, driven by the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

The Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Power Station, a single-reactor power plant, was initially expanded in 2008 with the construction of two new reactors. However, the project was plagued by cost overruns, with estimates ballooning from $9.8 billion to $25 billion. The delays and cost overruns led to the project's suspension in 2017, causing Santee Cooper and its partner, SCANA, to miss out on $2 billion in federal incentives.

The failed project had significant consequences, contributing to the bankruptcy of Westinghouse, a nuclear power company with a rich history dating back to the early days of electricity in the United States. The debacle also led to securities fraud convictions for two executives at SCANA. The troubled project cast a shadow over the entire U.S. nuclear power industry, with the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Georgia, which features similar reactors, experiencing years of delays and billions in overruns before finally being commissioned in 2023.

Despite the project's troubled past, Santee Cooper is optimistic about finding buyers for the reactors, citing the growing demand for power from data centers. The utility points to recent deals, such as Microsoft's agreement with Constellation Energy to restart a reactor at Three Mile Island, and Meta's search for developers to propose 1 to 4 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity. Santee Cooper is reportedly seeking to sell to a consortium that would include a tech company interested in securing power for its data centers.

However, any deal Santee Cooper puts together will still face significant political hurdles. A portion of the costs for the V.C. Summer expansion were passed on to ratepayers due to a state law that allowed utilities to offload the cost of new nuclear reactors. Completing the expansion and finding a buyer for the power could help alleviate the burden on ratepayers. As a state-owned utility, politicians will undoubtedly take a keen interest in any deal, which could impact the project's fate.

The potential revival of the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Power Station project marks a significant shift in the nuclear power industry, which has faced significant challenges in recent years. As the demand for power from data centers continues to grow, utilities and tech companies are increasingly turning to nuclear power as a reliable and clean source of energy. Whether Santee Cooper can successfully revive the project remains to be seen, but the utility's efforts could have significant implications for the future of nuclear power in the United States.