Constellation Energy turned in better-than-projected financials for 2024 as it continued to meet the demand for emissions-free energy with the nation’s largest nuclear fleet.
The Baltimore-based energy company said it has the lowest CO2 emissions rate among the top 20 private investor-owned U.S. power producers and that it once again was the nation’s largest producer of emissions-free energy in 2024.
The capacity factor of its nuclear plants inched up from 94.4% in 2023 to 94.6% in 2024, which it said is about four percentage points higher than the industry average.
Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez has spoken about U.S. energy trends presenting opportunities for the company, and he repeated the message Feb. 18 as he announced the fourth-quarter and year-end financials: “There has never been a more exciting time for our country and for the energy industry. We are privileged to be at the heart of it all.”
Demand for electricity is such that Constellation is working to restart a 51-year-old retired reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, which it has renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center, to supply Microsoft for 20 years.
Constellation is also in the process of acquiring Calpine Corp., the nation’s largest operator of geothermal and natural gas power generation, a deal it said would create a leading retail supplier of power to meet growing demand. (See Constellation to Acquire Calpine for $29.1B.)
Constellation’s stock price has been on a mostly steady and often sharp rise since the company spun off from Exelon in early 2022. That likely is based in part on the widespread (but not universal) expectation that data centers for power-intensive artificial intelligence applications will create huge demands for additional electricity — Constellation stock jumped 25% in a single day when the Calpine deal was announced.
The price per share hit an all-time high Jan. 24, then plummeted 21% the next trading day on news that DeepSeek had developed an artificial intelligence model that needs only a fraction of the electricity that other models consume. The stock price has recovered much of that loss, however.
In its annual 10-K filing, also released Feb. 18, Constellation said energy-intensive data centers would be a potential driver of market demand for its reliable, carbon-free electricity, as would policy support for nuclear energy and consumer preference for clean energy.
Constellation reported 2024 GAAP net income of $3.75 billion, or $11.89 per share. This compares with $1.62 billion and $5.01 per share for 2023.
Adjusted (non-GAAP) income was $2.74 billion, or $8.67 per share in 2024. During the year, Constellation twice bumped its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings higher, but results still exceeded the final $8-$8.40 guidance the company set.
“Backstopped by our strong balance sheet and industry-leading generation and commercial businesses, we’re affirming our 2025 adjusted operating earnings guidance range at $8.90-$9.60 per share,” CFO Dan Eggers said in the news release.
Constellation closed 2024 with 31,676 MW of nameplate generation capacity — 22,068 MW of nuclear, 7,045 MW of natural gas and oil, and 2,563 MW of renewables.
2024 sales totaled 269,417 GWh, approximately the same as 2023 sales. That broke down to 67.4% nuclear; 9.9% gas, oil and renewables; and 22.6% purchased power.
