South Carolina’s largest utility company, Santee Cooper, is the latest energy provider to embrace nuclear power as demand for artificial intelligence continues to soar. 

Santee Cooper, also known as the South Carolina Public Service Authority, is seeking to restart construction on two nuclear reactors that were halted more than seven years ago, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Sources familiar with the matter confirmed to the outlet that the utility is seeking proposals from buyers who would complete construction of the reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, which currently has one reactor in operation. 

The company is expected to announce the reboot Wednesday and will reportedly accept proposals until May 5. 

The move comes more than seven years after construction came to a standstill on the pair of nuclear reactors, which began in 2013. The reactors were expected to be in operation by 2019.

At the time, Santee Cooper and the plant’s then-co-owner, South Carolina Electric & Gas, said they had already put $9 billion into the project. Westinghouse Electric, a contractor at the facility, later filed bankruptcy over the abandoned project. 

The shutdown of the project was widely seen as a major blow to the industry.

“I’m disappointed by today’s decision to halt construction on South Carolina’s two nuclear reactors,” then-Sen. Tom Carper (DE), a leading democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said at the time. “Nuclear energy provides about 20% of our nation’s energy, but the reactors in operation today won’t be around forever.”

Those familiar with the decision told the outlet that Santee Cooper would likely enter an agreement with a construction company and tech firm, which would then use the power generated at the facility for their own technological advancements.

Santee Cooper currently owns 100% of assets at the plant and is expecting to recoup some of the $9 billion previously invested through the anticipated deal, according to the recent report. 

A similar purchase agreement was made between Microsoft and Constellation Energy in the fall, as the two companies are seeking to reopen Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history. 

Several other large tech companies such as Meta, Amazon, and Google have also recently announced major investments in the nuclear power industry, backing construction of small modular reactors and other new generation. 

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Demand for energy from AI advancements has primarily driven this revival in support for nuclear energy. It had been on a downward trend for years due to environmental concerns and high operational costs.

Now, as many within the private sector are seeking to secure their own power for developments, some are turning to nuclear energy as a way to also meet existing carbon emission reduction targets.