Can Rising C&I Demand Drive Constellation Energy's Long-Term Growth?

Constellation Energy CEG benefits from an expanding Commercial & Industrial (C&I) customer base as businesses, data centers and other large customers seek reliable, long-term power. The company’s competitive advantage lies in its large fleet of reliable, carbon-free nuclear generation, which can meet customers’ growing electricity needs while supporting their sustainability goals.

The opportunity is becoming increasingly visible in 2026, with CEG signing 920 megawatts (MW) of long-term nuclear Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with investment-grade customers in the second quarter. The contracts have an average duration of 18.5 years, with operations scheduled to begin between 2029 and 2031, and are expected to ramp up fully by 2032. These agreements enhance long-term revenues and earnings visibility, with CEG expecting nearly 30% of its clean baseload generation to be secured under long-term contracts.

The Walmart agreement further demonstrates the potential of C&I demand. Walmart agreed to purchase about 176 MW of nuclear power, including 30 MW of expanded generation capacity at CEG’s Dresden facility. The deal supports Walmart’s expansion while enabling CEG to invest more at the plant.

The company’s existing generation fleet helps meet rising demand faster while reducing reliance on new power plants and transmission infrastructure. CEG targets more than 20% growth in base EPS from 2026 through 2029, along with long-term, rolling three-year base EPS growth of more than 10%.

Overall, growing C&I demand can strengthen CEG’s revenues and earnings visibility while improving generation utilization and supporting sustainable long-term growth.

Expanding C&I Demand Drives Utility Growth

Expanding C&I demand creates opportunities to secure long-term contracts, improve generation utilization and increase earnings visibility. Rising data-center and commercial loads can also support capacity additions and investment in reliable generation.

NRG Energy NRG advanced its Bring Your Own Power strategy with a global cloud and AI hyperscale for a proposed 1.2-gigawatt Texas combined-cycle gas turbine, using customer-backed investment to capture rising large-load demand. 

Vistra VST is positioned to capture rising data-center demand through Helix Digital Infrastructure, where it will serve as the preferred power provider. Part of the benefits from the Meta nuclear PPAs are expected to contribute to Adjusted EBITDA in 2027.

The Zacks Rundown on CEG

CEG’s Earnings Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 EPS indicates an increase of 29.29% and 8.09%, respectively, year over year.

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CEG’s Returns on Equity (ROE)

Constellation Energy's trailing-12-month ROE is 14.89%, ahead of the industry average of 7.13%.

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CEG’s Stock Price Performance

In the past three months, the company’s shares have risen 3.2% against the industry’s 16.1% fall.

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CEG’s Zacks Rank

CEG currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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