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Constellation Energy is in advanced talks to acquire Calpine in a deal valued at up to $30bn, in what could be one of the largest takeovers in the power generation industry, according to people familiar with the matter.

The acquisition of Calpine would also generate a huge windfall for its private equity investors Energy Capital Partners, CPP Investments and Access Industries, who acquired it in 2017 for $17bn including debt.

One person with knowledge of the talks said a deal could be finalised within days and value Calpine at close to $30bn, including debt, making it one of the largest US power and utility deals.

The takeover talks come amid an unprecedented surge in power demand forecasts linked to the rollout of artificial intelligence data centres and reshoring of manufacturing activities, which has caused shares in Baltimore-based utility Constellation to more than double in value over the past year. Constellation shares fell as much as 10 per cent on news of the talks before recovering slightly to close 4.6 per cent lower.

The US electricity system is grappling with a historic rise in power demand after two decades of negligible growth. Consulting firm ICF expects the country’s power consumption to grow by nearly 20 per cent by 2033.

Expectations of surging power demand have been a boon for cheap natural gas-fired generation, which unlike solar and wind is available around the clock. GE Vernova, the largest gas turbine manufacturer, expects orders to have nearly doubled last year. 

Calpine operates a fleet of 78 gas plants and other energy facilities across the US, which generate enough electricity to power about 27mn homes.  

Constellation operates the largest fleet of conventional nuclear reactors in the US and last year announced it planned to reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.

The proposed deal indicates Constellation was seeking to complement its nuclear holdings with a large-scale gas fleet “to meet the increasing demand from the growing data centre industry”, said Andrew Gillick, a managing director at energy consultancy Enverus.

Another person with direct knowledge of the matter said a deal could be announced as early as this month.

Consulting firm PwC is forecasting an increase in fossil fuel generation deals under a Republican-controlled White House and Congress, which are expected to promote development of oil and gas projects.

Constellation Energy and Calpine did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bloomberg first reported news of the talks.

Incoming president Donald Trump has asked for an emergency order from the Supreme Court asking to block his sentencing scheduled for Friday, Jan. 10 in his New York hush money criminal case. Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to hide payments to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, made ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

New York appellate court Associate Judge Ellen Gesmer previously rejected Trump’s request to postpone the sentencing Tuesday, Jan. 7.

From 2024: Dismissed Trump hush money trial juror number 4 shares his story

What’s in Trump’s argument to block sentencing in NY hush money case?

According to court documents, Trump cited NY Supreme Court’s rulings on presidential immunity are causing “ongoing, irreparable” harm by depriving the president-elect “of his constitutional rights.”

That court “wrongly denied” Trump’s pending motion to dismiss the criminal case based on presidential immunity, according to the U.S. Supreme Court filing.

In July 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled “official” acts taken by a president are protected from criminal prosecution but not steps he took as a candidate.

Trump, the first president — former or current — to be criminally charged, argued he can’t be prosecuted for actions he took in his official capacity during his administration, an extension of the reasoning the Supreme Court used in 1982 when it barred civil suits against a president for official actions.

Otherwise, Trump’s attorneys argued, the threat of future prosecution and imprisonment would destroy the strength and authority of the presidency by subjecting them to politically motivated prosecutions, language used in the recent U.S. Supreme Court filing.

“President Trump promptly filed an interlocutory appeal and notified the trial court that it is subject to anautomatic stay, but the New York courts have erroneously refused to honor that stay,” the filing states, with Trump seeking ” … the dismissal of the District Attorney’s politically motivated prosecution that was flawed from the very beginning.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who handles emergency appeals from New York, directed prosecutors with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to respond to Trump’s request by 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 9.

Contributing: USA Today.