The rapid growth of AI-driven data centers is reshaping how power capacity gets financed and acquired in the United States. Rather than waiting years for new generation to clear permitting, interconnection queues, and supply-chain bottlenecks, utilities and infrastructure investors are paying a growing premium for operating power plants that can deliver electricity quickly.
A new report from Deloitte frames this shift around the concept of “deliverable capacity”: generation assets that are already grid-connected and can be energized at scale despite tightening reliability and capital constraints. Thomas Keefe, vice chair and US Power, Utilities and Renewables leader at Deloitte, noted that US power demand is rising due to AI-driven digital infrastructure expansion and electrification, while new generation and grid infrastructure remain slow and costly to bring online.
Record Transaction Volume in 2025
The numbers reflect how decisively the market has moved. Deloitte found that US power and utilities announced nearly $142 billion in transactions during 2025, with buyers clearly favoring portfolios of operating generation over greenfield development. Natural gas assets were central to that activity: 62 GW of gas-fired generation changed hands, representing 43 percent of all generating capacity transacted during the year. Gas-sector deals totaled nearly $89 billion across 23 transactions.
Brynna Foley, an investment research analyst at Enverus, pointed out that capital costs for new gas plants rose roughly 40 percent between 2015 and 2025. Combined with permitting and interconnection delays, that increase has made existing assets more attractive. Transaction multiples in 2025 were nearly double 2024 levels, even as operating plants in many cases still traded below the cost of building equivalent new generation. Foley described this as a “buy-to-build” premium.
Speed to Power Is the Deciding Factor
Beyond raw megawatts, data center developers are prioritizing time-to-power. That includes not just the generation asset itself but the interconnection rights, transmission access, and energization timelines that come with it. Two strategies have emerged in response:
- Behind-the-meter generation: Siting power at or adjacent to a facility to reduce dependence on congested grid upgrades.
- Bring-your-own-generation: Developers procure or control dedicated generation to serve new campuses directly, shortening schedules for hyperscale deployment.
Acquisition activity was particularly concentrated in PJM Interconnection and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) during 2025. More recently, transaction pace has slowed, partly because large independent power producers completed major deals and shifted focus to their balance sheets, and partly because high-quality portfolios are becoming scarcer.
Different Rules for Regulated Utilities
Merchant generators and regulated utilities face distinct incentives. Merchants benefit directly when tight markets lift energy margins and capacity values. Regulated utilities, by contrast, earn an authorized return on their rate base, and regulators frequently disallow acquisition premiums unless a clear ratepayer benefit can be demonstrated. That dynamic tends to steer utilities toward transmission and substation investments rather than outright plant acquisitions, even as the same AI-driven load growth boosts the value of merchant assets.
Foley expects investors to continue favoring acquisitions for as long as the buy-to-build premium persists. Keefe anticipates that power ownership will continue concentrating among large, well-capitalized participants as the market adjusts to sustained demand growth driven by AI infrastructure.