S&P 500 companies report a whopping 53% increase in profits year over year as corporate profits rise. Taylor Riggs analyzes the market’s forward price-earnings ratios along with the rally in Magnificent Seven stocks. Energy giant NextEra Energy has secured a federal loan of up to $1.9 billion from the Department of Energy to restart Iowa’s Duane Arnold Energy Center, marking a major milestone as the country works to meet growing energy demand driven in part by the rise of AI. The 615-megawatt facility in Linn County operated for 45 years before closing in 2020 as Iowa’s only nuclear power plant. The project cleared a major state regulatory hurdle in June when the Iowa Public Utilities Commission issued a certificate authorizing construction and operation. NextEra aims to bring the reactor back online by the first quarter of 2029, subject to final oversight and licensing approvals from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NVIDIA CEO JENSEN HUANG DECLARES ‘AGI HAS ARRIVED’ AFTER OPENAI UNVEILS GPT-6 ASTRA The 615-megawatt facility in Linn County operated for 45 years before close in 2020. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)The nuclear restart is anchored in a 25-year power purchase agreement with Alphabet’s Google, which will buy electricity from the plant. Rising demand for energy, including from artificial intelligence data centers and other high-tech computing infrastructure, is straining the country’s power grid and prompting renewed interest in extending the life of existing nuclear plants and bringing shuttered reactors back online. A control panel is shown on Sept. 8, 2026, at the Duane Arnold Energy Center near Palo, Iowa. (Reuters) The project is also expected to provide significant economic benefits to Iowa. An economic study estimates the restart will generate more than $9 billion in economic value for Iowa over 25 years; create thousands of jobs in construction and remodeling; support more than 400 permanent, well-paid operational positions; and generate approximately $75 million in tax revenue. State leaders have backed the effort, and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation to provide incentives for nuclear energy development. The nuclear restart is anchored in a 25-year power purchase agreement with Alphabet’s Google, which will buy electricity from the plant. (Rolf Vennenbernd/Picture Alliance via Getty Images) John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra Energy, said bringing new generation online to meet growing demand could help keep energy affordable for existing customers while ensuring Iowa families and businesses don’t have to bear the costs of grid growth. While multiple efforts are underway across the country to restart retired reactors, no shuttered nuclear power plants in the U.S. have yet resumed operations. high-profile nuclear restart efforts across the country, including Constellation Energy’s plan to restart a reactor at Pennsylvania’s former Three Mile Island plant for Microsoft and Holtec International’s efforts to restart Michigan’s 800-megawatt Palisades facility.
