Santee Cooper, the big power provider in South Carolina, has tapped financial advisers to look for buyers that can restart construction on a pair of nuclear reactors that were mothballed years ago. The state-owned utility is betting interest will be strong, with tech giants such as Amazon.com and Microsoft in need of clean energy to fuel data centers for artificial-intelligence capabilities. Santee Cooper plans to announce Wednesday it is seeking proposals for buyers to complete the project at South Carolina’s sprawling V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, according to people familiar with the matter. The utility is working with bankers at Centerview Partners, which will accept proposals until May 5, the people said. Santee Cooper will likely look to tap a consortium that could include a construction firm, a tech company that will use the power, and an additional partner for capital, the people said. It is also looking for another power company partner because it doesn’t plan to own or operate the units once they are up and running. Construction of two nuclear reactors at the V.C. Summer plant was halted in 2017 after Santee Cooper and the plant’s then-co-owner, South Carolina Electric & Gas—now part of Dominion Energy—had already jointly spent around $9 billion.

Full report : South Carolina to Reboot Giant Nuclear Project to Meet AI Demand.