Adds more details about regulator request, CEO quote, file photos

By Laila Kearney

NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) - Constellation Energy CEG.O will make a request to U.S. energy regulators on Tuesday to speed up its connection of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to the electric grid and meet its goal of restarting the plant by the end of 2027, the company's CEO said.

The giant U.S. power producer is working to resume operations of a reactor at the shut Three Mile Island, under the new name Crane Clean Energy Center, to deliver electricity to the regional grid to power Microsoft MSFT.O data centers by the end of next year. Recent initial feedback from grid operator PJM Interconnection, however, said the site may not be able to connect to the electrical system until 2031.

News of the potential delay, which was first reported by Reuters on Friday, sent shares of the company lower.

Constellation says it still plans to meet its timing goal of the $1.6 billion Crane relaunch, which was first announced in 2024.

"We are working on that with PJM, and we continue to expect to start this unit in 2027," CEO Joseph Dominguez said on a call with investors.

The company will ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday to transfer certain rights that allow it to send electricity to the grid from its Eddystone gas-fired power plant outside of Philadelphia to Crane site, Dominguez said.