The US power and utility merger and acquisition (M&A) market has experienced unprecedented activity, largely driven by the surging electricity demand from AI data centers. During the six months ending in May 2026, announced power and utility M&A activity totaled $216 billion across 23 transactions. This figure represents a 173% increase compared to the $79 billion across the same number of transactions during the comparable period in 2025, according to PwC.
This trend is making power generation and infrastructure assets highly attractive to energy companies, private equity firms, and other institutional investors. Dealmakers anticipate 2025 will be a bumper year for M&A in the US power industry, as the sector prepares to meet massive demand growth from AI data centers. For example, in January and February 2025 alone, there were 27 US power deals worth a combined $36.4 billion, headlined by Constellation Energy's $16.4 billion acquisition of Calpine. This surpasses, both by value and volume, the first two months of every year barring one during the last 20 years, as per LSEG data.
The increase in demand has also led to a focus on dispatchable generation assets and the direct ownership of generation development by technology companies. One of the largest announced transactions demonstrating this trend was NextEra Energy's proposed $67 billion acquisition of Dominion Energy, an all-stock deal that would create a combined enterprise valued at approximately $420 billion. This merger is expected to provide Dominion with access to additional capital for infrastructure investments, particularly to support growth in Northern Virginia's data center market, while increasing NextEra's exposure to regulated utility operations.
Private equity firms are playing a significant role, with many seeking lucrative exits from power assets acquired three to five years ago. They now own nearly 20% of all operating gas power capacity in the U.S. In fact, over 62 GW of natural gas generation capacity was transacted in 2025, a fourfold increase from 2024 levels, as buyers compete for assets in data-center heavy markets. Renewables also saw high activity, accounting for over half of all capacity transacted in 2025 (more than 75 GW), with solar and storage projects being prioritized. This intense deal-making in the power sector contrasts with a weaker start for the overall M&A market, which recorded its weakest beginning since the global financial crisis.
