NRG Energy will purchase 18 natural gas-fired power plants in the northeastern US and Texas in a $12bn deal aimed at meeting growing US power demand from data centers and expanding electric vehicle fleets.
The acquisition from LS Power will double NRG's power generation capacity to 25 GW as plans for data centers running artificial intelligence (AI) software are driving expected US power demand growth, which has languished for more than a decade.
"We are in the early stages of a power demand supercycle," said NRG chief executive Larry Coben.
About 61pc of the 12.9 GW of generation capacity being acquired is located in the mid-Atlantic grid operator PJM Interconnection area, 16pc is in New York's NYISO power grid, 7pc in New England's ISO-NE, and 16pc in Texas' ERCOT grid.
The deal includes $6.4bn in cash, $2.8bn in stock and $3.2bn of assumed debt.
PJM in January revised its power demand forecast substantially upward on projected load growth from planned data centers. Constellation Energy in January agreed to buy the largest US gas-fired power generator Calpine Energy for $16.4bn in stock and cash, citing the need to rapidly enter the fast-growing Texas power market.
The companies expect the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2026.
