--- title: "LS Power's $6 billion fund buys the gas plants Constellation had to sell" description: "LS Power closed Fund VI at about $6 billion, with $1.7 billion of equity earmarked for roughly 5 GW of Constellation gas at $1,142 a kilowatt. Constellation is a forced seller, and the price says what scarce megawatts now cost a levered buyer." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Deals" published: 2026-10-21T19:06:11.689Z modified: 2026-10-21T19:06:11.689Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/ls-power-s-6-billion-fund-buys-the-gas-plants-constellation-had-to-sell language: en keywords: "Private Equity, Natural Gas, Constellation Energy, PJM, Data Centers" --- # LS Power's $6 billion fund buys the gas plants Constellation had to sell > LS Power closed Fund VI at about $6 billion, with $1.7 billion of equity earmarked for roughly 5 GW of Constellation gas at $1,142 a kilowatt. Constellation is a forced seller, and the price says what scarce megawatts now cost a levered buyer. LS Power, the privately held New York power investor, [closed its sixth private equity fund at about $6 billion on October 6](https://www.powermag.com/ls-power-closes-funding-round-with-6-billion-in-commitments/), past a $4 billion target and more than double the $2.7 billion its previous fund raised in 2024 [1]. About $1.7 billion was spoken for before the close: LS Power is buying about 5 GW of gas-fired plants from [Constellation Energy](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/constellation-energy), the world's largest private-sector power producer, whose fleet runs 55 GW [1][2]. The first piece closed on October 14, [the 606 MW Brazos Valley Energy Center](https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/constellation-completes-sale-brazos-valley-energy-center-ls-power-2026-10-14) outside Houston [2]. *Chart: **Fund VI closed half again past its $4 billion target and more than double Fund V** Column chart comparing Fund V's 2024 close at 2.7 billion dollars, Fund VI's original 4 billion dollar target and Fund VI's actual close at 6 billion dollars* *Fund sizes in billions of dollars at final close. Fund VI closed on October 6, 2026. Source: POWER Magazine (LS Power release). [1]* ## Constellation is a forced seller at a marked-up price [Constellation is not choosing to exit gas](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/constellation-energy). It is selling because the Justice Department conditioned its Calpine acquisition, closed on January 7, on divestitures [2]. On March 18, [LS Power agreed to take about 4.4 GW of mostly gas-fired plants in Delaware and Pennsylvania for $5 billion](https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/energy/articles/constellation-energy-ceg-ls-power-155036530.html) before adjustments, about $1,142 per kilowatt [4]. That is steep for used metal, and still roughly a third of new build: chief operating officer Darpan Kapadia puts a 1 GW combined-cycle plant at north of $3 billion to construct, about double six years ago [7]. The fund's $1.7 billion of equity covers about a third of the $5 billion PJM price, which points to debt funding the rest [2]. The remaining plants, Bethlehem, York 1, York 2, Hay Road and Edge Moor, close by year-end [2]. Constellation keeps what hyperscalers want. [Google signed 3,590 MW across two PJM contracts on October 6](https://sayer.news/article/google-signs-for-36-gigawatts-of-constellation-power-including-890-mw-of-new-nuclear-189d3a12), including 890 MW of nuclear uprates at 11 reactors backed by more than $4.3 billion of Constellation investment [5]. [Amazon took 190 MW at Calvert Cliffs](https://theinference.org/article/amazon-scrapped-its-maryland-data-center-and-bought-the-nuclear-plant-s-power-anyway) on September 30 [6]. *Chart: **Constellation is sending more gas megawatts to one fund than Google contracted in total** Bar chart of deal capacity in megawatts: LS Power purchase of Constellation gas about 5,000; Google 15-year fleet agreement 2,700; Google nuclear uprates 890; Amazon Calvert Cliffs 190.* *Capacity per announced deal, in megawatts. LS Power figure is its stated 5 GW platform: the 4.4 GW PJM package agreed in March 2026 plus the 606 MW Brazos Valley plant. Sources: POWER Magazine (LS Power release); Sayer; ad-hoc-news. [1][5][6]* ## The buyer is also building the way out LS Power has traded this cycle before: it built about 5 GW of gas plants and sold them to Cogentrix and [NRG](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nrg-energy) by 2001, then rebuilt out of the early-2000s bankruptcies, raising $19.8 billion of equity since [7][1]. Its next act is supply. On October 8, [PJM cleared 2.1 GW on a fast track](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/engie-ls-power-pjm-expedited-interconnection-eit/832613/), including a 455 MW uprate at LS Power's Hunterstown plant in Pennsylvania, online by mid-2029; the track lapses at the end of 2027 [8]. "The demand growth we're experiencing today is real," Kapadia said. "The supply side is going to take time to catch up, and the markets are screaming that" [3]. Constellation reports on November 6, with [adjusted operating EPS guidance of $11.50 to $12.50](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/corporate-news/constellation-sells-brazos-valley-plant-as-constellation-energy-stock-costs-eur-244-95/70359796) after a $2.55 second quarter [6]. LS Power is underwriting a shortage its own construction schedule is supposed to end. ## Takeaway A forced seller met a levered buyer at $1,142 a kilowatt, about a third of new-build cost: scarce PJM megawatts are changing hands at a discount only because the seller had no choice. ## Sources 1. [POWER Magazine (LS Power release), LS Power Closes Funding Round With $6 Billion in Commitments, 7 October 2026](https://www.powermag.com/ls-power-closes-funding-round-with-6-billion-in-commitments/) 2. [Constellation Energy via Nasdaq, Constellation Completes Sale of Brazos Valley Energy Center to LS Power, 14 October 2026](https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/constellation-completes-sale-brazos-valley-energy-center-ls-power-2026-10-14) 3. [Private Infrastructure Daily, LS Power closes $6bn private equity fund, earmarks $1.7bn for Constellation, 20 October 2026](https://www.privateinfrastructuredaily.com/story/ls-power-closes-6bn-private-equity-fund-earmarks-1-7bn-for-constellation) 4. [Insider Monkey via Yahoo Finance, Constellation Energy (CEG) and LS Power Equity Advisors Announce an Agreement, 26 March 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/energy/articles/constellation-energy-ceg-ls-power-155036530.html) 5. [Sayer, Google signs for 3.6 gigawatts of Constellation power, including 890 MW of new nuclear, 12 October 2026](https://sayer.news/article/google-signs-for-36-gigawatts-of-constellation-power-including-890-mw-of-new-nuclear-189d3a12) 6. [ad-hoc-news.de, Constellation sells Brazos Valley plant as Constellation Energy stock costs EUR 244.95, 19 October 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/corporate-news/constellation-sells-brazos-valley-plant-as-constellation-energy-stock-costs-eur-244-95/70359796) 7. [Utility Dive via Yahoo Finance, LS Power COO sees sweeping power sector investing needs, 20 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/ls-power-coo-sees-sweeping-144035905.html) 8. [Utility Dive, PJM approves fast-track interconnection for 2.1 GW from Engie, LS Power, 9 October 2026](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/engie-ls-power-pjm-expedited-interconnection-eit/832613/) --- LS Power's $6 billion fund buys the gas plants Constellation had to sell — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/ls-power-s-6-billion-fund-buys-the-gas-plants-constellation-had-to-sell