DOE closes up to $1.9 billion loan to NextEra to restart Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa

The U.S. Department of Energy said Sept. 8 it had reached financial close on a loan of up to $1.9 billion to NextEra Energy to help restart the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa, marking one of the federal government’s biggest bets yet on bringing a retired nuclear plant back into service.

The financing, issued through DOE’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing, backs the planned return of the 615-megawatt Duane Arnold plant in Linn County near Palo. NextEra described the agreement as a “combined conditional commitment and financial close.” The company said the reactor is expected to restart no later than the first quarter of 2029, but that timeline depends on approvals from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency that licenses commercial nuclear plants.

The project is notable because Duane Arnold is not a new reactor. It is a previously operating boiling-water reactor — a type of nuclear plant that uses ordinary water to cool the reactor and make steam — that permanently stopped generating electricity on Aug. 10, 2020. The shutdown came after a powerful derecho damaged the plant’s cooling towers and triggered an automatic shutdown. DOE and NextEra describe it as Iowa’s only nuclear power plant.

The restart effort has already secured a major commercial customer. In October 2025, Google and NextEra announced a 25-year power purchase agreement under which Google will buy most of Duane Arnold’s output to support the company’s cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Iowa. Central Iowa Power Cooperative, or CIPCO, is set to take a smaller share of the plant’s generation. NextEra also has said it signed definitive agreements to acquire the combined roughly 30% ownership stake held by CIPCO and Corn Belt Power Cooperative, which would bring NextEra’s ownership to 100%.

At the state level, the Iowa Utilities Commission granted a generating certificate on June 18, 2026, allowing NextEra to construct, operate and maintain the facility under state proceedings. But key federal approvals are still outstanding. The NRC is reviewing the restart application, including three license amendment requests and an exemption from license termination requirements. The agency has issued a draft Environmental Assessment and a draft Finding of No Significant Impact, and the public comment period on those documents closed Sept. 2. NRC staff previously estimated, based on NextEra’s schedule, that final licensing decisions could come by Jan. 29, 2028, though that timing could change.

The DOE said Duane Arnold is the third nuclear restart financed by its lending office, underscoring a broader federal push to restore retired reactors as electricity demand rises. That effort is also increasingly tied to large corporate power buyers seeking long-term electricity supplies for data centers and AI-related operations.

“President Trump has set an ambitious course to restore American nuclear leadership, and the restart of Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant in Iowa marks another step in advancing America’s nuclear renaissance,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy James P. Danly said in a DOE release. “Returning 615 megawatts of reliable baseload generation will drive down electricity costs, while supporting thousands of American jobs.”

DOE said the restart project is expected to create nearly 1,500 jobs during construction and support more than 450 jobs during operations. NextEra has also pointed to a company-referenced independent study estimating the restart could generate more than $9 billion in economic benefit to Iowa over 25 years. “Restarting Duane Arnold is about delivering new power to meet new demand while generating billions of dollars in economic value for Iowans,” NextEra Energy Chairman, President and CEO John Ketchum said in the company’s release.