--- title: "NRG sells six gas plants back to LS Power for $4 billion, nine months after buying them" description: "Nine months after buying the fleet from LS Power, NRG sells six plants back for $4.0 billion at 8.0x forward EBITDA, routing the cash to $3 billion of buybacks and debt paydown while the buyer bets scarcity keeps repricing gas upward." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Power" published: 2026-11-12T17:28:44.534Z modified: 2026-11-12T17:28:44.534Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/nrg-sells-six-gas-plants-back-to-ls-power-for-4-billion-nine-months-after-buying-them language: en keywords: "NRG Energy, LS Power, Natural Gas, Power Plants, Deals" --- # NRG sells six gas plants back to LS Power for $4 billion, nine months after buying them > Nine months after buying the fleet from LS Power, NRG sells six plants back for $4.0 billion at 8.0x forward EBITDA, routing the cash to $3 billion of buybacks and debt paydown while the buyer bets scarcity keeps repricing gas upward. [NRG Energy](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nrg-energy) is selling six natural gas plants back to LS Power for $4.0 billion in cash, less than a year after buying them from the same firm [1][4]. The deal, signed November 9, 2026, and [filed in an 8-K the next day](https://www.tradingview.com/news/tradingview:51ec5391595d5:0-nrg-energy-to-sell-power-generation-assets-to-ls-power-affiliate-for-4-billion/), hands LS Power 4.9 GW across New York, New England and Texas: Ravenswood in NYISO, Ocean State Power and Wallingford in ISO-NE, and Jack County, Johnson County and R.W [1][4]. Miller in ERCOT [1][4]. ![Ravenswood Generating Station, a gas and oil plant with four tall red and white striped smokestacks, seen from the East River in Long Island City, Queens](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/88b160cdee317457.jpg) *Ravenswood Generating Station in Long Island City, Queens, is one of the six plants NRG is selling back to LS Power. The 4.9 GW portfolio also includes Ocean State Power and Wallingford in New England and three plants in Texas. (Joe Mabel)* ## Scarcity repriced the plants, and NRG is selling into it LS Power approached NRG unsolicited, and NRG's chief executive Robert Gaudette said the offer was too good to refuse: 8.0 times expected 2027 adjusted EBITDA, with Jack County carrying an implied $1,400 per kilowatt against the roughly $1,000 NRG pays to build new gas in Texas [5]. The price lands as the assets' earnings power inflects. NRG's East segment adjusted EBITDA jumped from $107 million to $614 million in a year on higher realized capacity prices, part of a quarter that delivered $4.68 adjusted EPS against a $3.33 estimate on $9.47 billion of revenue [2]. Scarcity is repricing these plants upward, and NRG is selling into that repricing rather than holding it. *Chart: **East segment EBITDA nearly sextupled in the year before NRG sold those plants** Column chart of NRG adjusted EBITDA by segment in $ millions, Q3 2025 versus Q3 2026: Texas $807 million to $1,020 million, East $107 million to $614 million, West/Other $13 million to $64 million, Vivint Smart Home $278 million to $317 million* *Adjusted EBITDA by segment, in $ millions, for the third quarters of 2025 and 2026. The East segment holds the New York and New England plants being sold; its gain came on higher realized capacity prices. Source: NRG third-quarter results as reported by Benzinga. [2]* ## $3 billion to buybacks, $3 billion against the debt The $4 billion routes to shareholders and lenders: $3 billion of buybacks across 2026 and 2027, $1 billion of it starting before year-end, and a total of $3 billion in planned 2027 debt reduction against $22.9 billion of debt and finance leases [2][3][5]. NRG keeps its whole PJM portfolio and the CPower energy-management business, the stated rationale for the original acquisition, and its 1.2-GW "Bring Your Own Power" data-center project stays on track [2][5]. We covered [that Texas data-center push on November 10](https://theinference.org/article/nrg-energy-targets-a-year-end-signature-on-a-3-2-billion-texas-data-center-plant-the-customer-is-unnamed); the sale is the balance-sheet half of the same bet [2][5]. *Chart: **NRG's debt doubled in a year buying the fleet it is now selling back** Line chart of NRG total debt in $ billions by quarter: $11.0 billion in Q4 2024, $11.0 billion in Q1 2025, $11.1 billion in Q2 2025, $12.1 billion in Q3 2025, $16.6 billion in Q4 2025, $23.4 billion in Q1 2026, $23.5 billion in Q2 2026, $23.1 billion in Q3 2026* *NRG's total debt at the end of each quarter, in $ billions, from its SEC filings. The step up in late 2025 and early 2026 is the LS Power fleet purchase now being partly unwound; the company cited $22.9 billion of debt and finance leases in announcing the sale. [6]* ## The 2027 guide comes in under consensus The catch sits in [the 2027 guide](https://www.benzinga.com/markets/earnings/26/11/63041584/nrg-energy-gains-after-earnings-beat-4-billion-sale-sharpens-buyback-and-debt-plans): adjusted EPS of $8.05 to $10.05, below the $10.07 consensus, with the plants leaving the run-rate [2]. LS Power, which is also buying 4.4 GW from Constellation and growing its gas fleet from 2.2 GW toward 11.5 GW, is the one holding the plants at the next capacity auction [5]. NRG carries the other risk: the buyback assumes data-center deals keep landing. *Chart: **Two deals build LS Power's gas fleet from 2.2 GW to 11.5 GW** Stacked bar of LS Power's gas fleet in gigawatts: 2.2 GW existing, 4.4 GW from Constellation, 4.9 GW from NRG, for about 11.5 GW* *LS Power's gas capacity in GW: its existing 2.2 GW fleet, the 4.4 GW it is buying from Constellation, and the 4.9 GW it is buying back from NRG, which together take it to about 11.5 GW. Source: Power Engineering. [5]* Watch the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the New York Public Service Commission and Hart-Scott-Rodino review; closing is targeted for the second quarter of 2027 [1][5]. ## Takeaway NRG bought six gas plants from LS Power and is selling them straight back at 8.0 times forward EBITDA, taking a $4 billion check into buybacks and debt while LS Power keeps the plants for the next capacity auction. ## Sources 1. [TradingView (SEC 8-K summary), NRG Energy to Sell Power Generation Assets to LS Power Affiliate for $4 Billion, 12 November 2026](https://www.tradingview.com/news/tradingview:51ec5391595d5:0-nrg-energy-to-sell-power-generation-assets-to-ls-power-affiliate-for-4-billion/) 2. [Benzinga, NRG Energy Gains After Earnings Beat, $4 Billion Sale Sharpens Buyback and Debt Plans, 9 November 2026](https://www.benzinga.com/markets/earnings/26/11/63041584/nrg-energy-gains-after-earnings-beat-4-billion-sale-sharpens-buyback-and-debt-plans) 3. [Reuters, NRG Energy to sell six power plants to LS Power for $4 billion, 9 November 2026](https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/nrg-energy-sell-six-power-plants-to-ls-power-4-billion-2026-11-09/) 4. [Bloomberg Law News, NRG to Sell Power Plants Back to LS Power for $4 Billion, 9 November 2026](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/corporate-governance/nrg-to-sell-6-us-gas-plants-to-ls-power-for-4-billion-2) 5. [Power Engineering, NRG Energy to sell 4.9 GW of gas generation back to LS Power in $4B portfolio shakeup, 9 November 2026](https://www.power-eng.com/business/nrg-energy-gas-generation-ls-power-sale/) 6. [NRG Energy, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 12 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001013871) --- NRG sells six gas plants back to LS Power for $4 billion, nine months after buying them — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/nrg-sells-six-gas-plants-back-to-ls-power-for-4-billion-nine-months-after-buying-them