Dominion Energy is talking to other technology companies about developing small modular nuclear reactors after the Virginia utility struck a deal with Amazon last month to explore advancing next-generation technology.

“It is very encouraging to see major electricity consumers, including technology companies, expressing their willingness to invest, partner and collaborate to make this exciting zero-carbon baseload technology a reality,” Dominion CEO Robert Blue told investors at the Third quarter earnings conference call Friday.

domination and Amazon have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore developing a small modular reactor near the utility's North Anna Nuclear Power Plant in Louisa County, Virginia. The small reactor would bring 300 megawatts of power to Virginia.

Virginia is one of the most nuclear-friendly states in the country with strong bipartisan support for next-generation nuclear initiatives, Blue said.

“It is not surprising that our major customers would be interested in working together to further develop these types of technologies, as they see us as a good operator of nuclear power plants,” the CEO told investors.

“So of course we talked to Amazon and others,” the CEO said.

Tech companies are investing in nuclear energy in search of carbon-free, reliable electricity to meet the growing energy needs of artificial intelligence data centers. Dominion serves the largest data center market in the world, Northern Virginia.

Earlier this year, Amazon purchased a data center campus from Talen Energy This is powered by the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant in Pennsylvania. Microsoft has signed an agreement to purchase electricity from Three Mile Island Constellation energy The goal is to put the system back into operation in 2028. alphabetGoogle agreed last month to buy electricity from startup Kairos Power, a developer of small modular reactors.

Small modular reactors promise to reduce capital costs and speed up the commissioning of nuclear power plants. They have a smaller footprint than large reactors, which in principle makes them easier to set up and promises a simpler manufacturing process.

But the technology struggled to reach the commercial stage. There is currently no operating small modular reactor in the United States.