The surge in artificial intelligence is propelling mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. power and utilities sector to unprecedented levels, as companies compete to raise capital for energy infrastructure to support data center construction.
Data from a Deloitte study shows that in the first five months of this year, total M&A deal value in the sector reached a record $203.6 billion. This figure is over 40% higher than the full-year 2025 total of $141.7 billion.
Investments related to data centers amounted to $151.5 billion, more than double the $68.7 billion announced in the same period last year. The full-year data center investment for 2025 was $321 billion.
The largest announced utility deal this year is NextEra Energy's proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy at an enterprise value of $112 billion. This is followed by the joint acquisition of AES Corporation by BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners and EQT, a deal valued at $33 billion. A total of 77 utility M&A transactions were announced in the first five months of 2026, compared to 157 such deals disclosed for the entirety of 2025.
Deloitte compiled this M&A data using S&P Global Market Intelligence's database, employing an enterprise value metric that includes both equity and debt, net of cash. The U.S. power sector statistics encompass regulated utilities, natural gas power generators, and renewable energy companies.
Despite operating in a highly regulated environment, the utility sector is experiencing explosive M&A growth driven by two key factors: companies seeking scale to capitalize on the data center boom, and a growing trend of divesting non-core assets to fund expansion. Private capital is also making significant inroads into utilities through two primary strategies: acquiring assets to take them private or making minority equity investments.
Thomas Kieve, Deloitte's U.S. Power, Utilities & Renewables senior leader, stated, "Private equity and infrastructure funds have a high level of interest in the sector. Financial investors are particularly attracted to the stable, consistent cash flows of the utility space."
Kieve noted that the AI boom has fundamentally rewritten the growth narrative for utilities, with some companies forecasting revenue increases of 50% to 100% over the next five to ten years.
Utilities need to raise hundreds of billions of dollars to construct new power plants and transmission lines to supply data centers and expand their customer base. However, as regulated monopolies, their service territories are largely geographically fixed.
NextEra Energy's previous two acquisition attempts—for Hawaiian Electric and Duke Energy—both ended in failure.
Proponents from the utility and power generation industry argue that achieving greater scale allows companies to reduce costs, savings which can then be passed on to consumers.
NextEra's subsidiary, Florida Power & Light, which operates in Florida, has seen electricity prices in the state drop by 2% compared to last year. The company claims that local residents' electricity bills are 19% lower than in 2019. To facilitate its massive acquisition, NextEra has pledged $2.25 billion in customer bill credits for Dominion Energy's service area.
Consumer advocates in Virginia dispute this narrative, arguing that bill credits are a short-term measure that will quickly be exhausted, leaving consumers to face the risk of long-term price increases. Brennan Gilmore, Executive Director of the anti-corruption non-profit and political action committee Clean Virginia, said, "Virginia ratepayers are clearly getting the short end of the stick."
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