Walmart signs nuclear power deal for warehouses; Oracle cuts jobs in AI push; Office attendance edges lower

Walmart signed a long-term purchase agreement for nuclear power with energy provider Constellation as the world’s largest retailer seeks to provide clean energy to an expanding network of distribution centers.

Financial terms were not disclosed for the deal, calling for Constellation’s Dresden Clean Energy Center in Illinois to provide Walmart with 176 megawatts of “emissions-free electricity,” including 30 megawatts of future expanded generating capacity, according to a Tuesday statement from the companies. According to industry data, 176 megawatts would be enough to power about 70,000 homes continuously.

Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart will purchase energy through two 15-year terms beginning in 2029, including enough to power the retailer’s previously announced high-tech distribution center geared to perishable items that is in development in Belvidere, Illinois, the statement said. Walmart opened a similar facility last year in Wellford, South Carolina.

Working with Baltimore-based Constellation “allows us to support new operations in Illinois” in a way that “prioritizes affordable, reliable and clean energy for our business and the communities we serve,” said Shayne Wahlmeier, senior vice president of energy for Walmart U.S., in the statement.

Also Tuesday, Brookfield Asset Management said the U.S. Department of Energy has “conditionally committed” funding for $17.5 billion in loan facilities to construct up to 10 nuclear reactors planned nationwide by Westinghouse Electric, which is 51% owned by Brookfield and its institutional partners. Construction is planned to begin by 2030, with funding part of a larger federal effort to improve domestic energy supply chains, according to a Brookfield statement. 

Technology giant Oracle disclosed this week that it reduced its workforce by 21,000, or 13%, over the past year, joining multiple companies citing shifts to artificial intelligence.

“The adoption and deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce,” Austin, Texas-based Oracle said in an annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Oracle’s global workforce stood at 141,000 as of May. The company filing said Oracle spent $1.8 billion in severance and other costs related to restructuring during the past 12 months, well above the $374 million spent in the previous year.

U.S.-based technology companies announced 123,653 job cuts in the first five months of 2026, far above any other industry and up from 74,716 in the year-earlier period, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The outplacement firm said AI was cited most frequently among employers as a factor in workforce reductions. 

Office attendance in 10 tracked regions averaged 55.2% of the pre-pandemic level for the week ended June 17, according to the latest Kastle Systems report. That was down from 56.5% in the prior week and ended a two-week string of increases but stayed close to the peak 56.9% posted most recently in the week ended March 4.

The security technology firm’s latest data showed Austin, Texas, still leading at 75.3% of its pre-pandemic traffic, with Dallas at 63.2%, New York at 62.1%, Houston at 58.2% and Chicago at 56.5%.

Based on anonymous keycard data from client property owners, Kastle tracks attendance at more than 2,600 office buildings housing 41,000 businesses nationwide. Average attendance has remained above 50% for most of the past year, excluding some holiday weeks and periods of severe weather affecting office turnout.