FERC clears PowerTransitions, TransAlta gas plant deals
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- FERC approved two gas-fired power plant deals on Thursday, greenlighting PowerTransitions' purchase of the 1,242-MW Roseton plant in Newburgh, NY from a Castleton Commodities International subsidiary
- PowerTransitions, backed by Switzerland's Partners Group Holding, plans to turn the Roseton site into an "energy campus" serving data centers and other energy-intensive industries, citing its scale and existing grid infrastructure
- PowerTransitions also acquired five gas-fired New York plants totaling 323 MW last month, and aims to close the Roseton deal by year's end after the New York Public Service Commission also approved the transaction Thursday
- TransAlta Holding received FERC approval for its roughly $1 billion acquisition of two gas-fired Colorado plants totaling 319 MW — the 163-MW Mountain Peak and 157-MW Canyon Peak — from Kindle Energy, which is 90% owned by Blackstone
- The two Colorado plants near Denver operate under long-term tolling agreements with United Power and CORE Electric Cooperative, respectively, and are projected to generate about $33 million a year in cash flow, with Mountain Peak operating since September and Canyon Peak expected online before October
- TransAlta owns a coal-fired Centralia, Washington plant that the U.S. Department of Energy ordered kept running, and plans to convert it to gas under a deal with Puget Sound Energy, with CEO Joel Hunter citing data centers in Centralia and Alberta as the growth thesis
Why it matters: Both buyers are explicitly pivoting toward data center demand: PowerTransitions calls Roseton "an ideal candidate for co-location development," and TransAlta's CEO cites Colorado's "accelerating growth potential." The two FERC approvals transfer roughly 1,561 MW of gas-fired capacity to owners chasing that load, while TransAlta's planned gas conversion of its DOE-ordered Centralia coal plant extends the same bet.
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