Power and utility deals hit a record $205 billion in the first half of 2026

Ninety-two deals. Six months. $205 billion. Deloitte Insights' power and utilities M&A midyear update, published September 14 by Brian Boufarah, Keith Adams, Kate Hardin and Shih Yu (Elsie) Hung, puts announced first-half 2026 transaction value at a record, more than triple the same period in 2025 and larger than every first half from 2019 through 2025 added together.

PwC's global energy, utilities and resources deals team gives that number a motive. In its 2026 mid-year outlook, authored by Tracy Herrmann and Chloe Ho, the firm argues that reliability has become the defining investment thesis for the back half of the year. Buyers want power, grid and gas infrastructure that can add capacity faster than many new-build projects can deliver it, and they are paying for the privilege.

Two deals drove the record

Deloitte attributes the record to two transactions: NextEra Energy's $124 billion merger with Dominion Energy and the $48 billion take-private of AES. Those two megadeals, according to Deloitte, drove the record-setting six-month period, which counted 92 announced deals in total.

PwC describes the same pattern from the other direction, calling it a K-shaped M&A market. Large strategic transactions are pushing up total deal value because buyers use them to secure scale, resilience and cash flows that hold up over the long term. Volumes, meanwhile, have stayed softer, with parts of the mid-market notably weak. The firm says megadeals are concentrated in power and utilities and in oil and gas.

The shape matters more than the headline for anyone reading it as a supplier-risk signal. A record value figure suggests everything is changing hands. Deloitte's own account indicates otherwise: two megadeals drove the record, and PwC describes a K-shaped market in which large strategic transactions lift deal value while volumes stay softer, particularly in parts of the mid-market. For an operator whose generator or retail supplier is a mid-market player, the odds that the name on the contract changes this year may not be what the $205 billion implies, even as the largest regulated utilities reorganize.

Buying is now the fast lane to capacity

Deloitte organizes the half around three words: speed, scale and scarcity. When new development is slow, the firm writes, acquiring is a quick route to owning or controlling existing assets and advanced-stage projects. M&A, in this framing, is how a market participant pulls forward a portfolio, squeezes more out of assets it already has, and manages its cost base.

PwC reaches the same conclusion with a wider lens. It expects acquisitions and partnerships to stay favored over pure greenfield development through the second half, with dealmakers prioritizing proven assets, stable markets and platforms that can meet rising demand with more certainty. Where is the capital going? According to PwC, into LNG, upstream gas, midstream connectivity, dispatchable generation and grid infrastructure, a mix it labels an 'all of the above' strategy.

Gas is where the two reports overlap most sharply. Deloitte's view is that gas-fired generation still matters, that M&A in renewables has narrowed to more selective targets, and that some utilities are continuing to recycle capital. PwC cites Shell's proposed $16.4 billion acquisition of ARC Resources, aimed at long-life Montney gas and closer connectivity to LNG Canada, and Mitsubishi Corporation's proposed $5.2 billion purchase of Aethon III, which it reads as a bet on long-term LNG exposure and portfolio resilience. Both, PwC says, are being assessed through a supply-security lens rather than a pure commodity one.

Deloitte puts the speed argument plainly: with new build moving slowly, an acquisition can get a buyer to ownership or control of operating assets, and of projects late in development, far more quickly. PwC expects acquisitions and partnerships to remain favoured over pure greenfield development, with dealmakers prioritising proven assets, stable markets and platforms that can meet rising demand with greater certainty.

Who pays for the buildout is turning into a valuation input

PwC puts the affordability question bluntly. As power demand rises, utilities, regulators and investors have to decide who pays for new grid, generation and storage. The bill can land directly on data centers and other large-load customers. It can be passed to households and businesses through utility rates. Or it can be split under new contractual and regulatory models. Each path carries a different mix of affordability, project economics and political risk.

The answer feeds straight into deal pricing. PwC says buyers are increasingly drawn to assets that offer clear cost recovery, contracted offtake or a direct line to large-load customers. In markets where the rules are unclear, by contrast, buyers face longer approvals, more scrutiny and wider valuation uncertainty. Deloitte lists affordability pressure alongside regulatory scrutiny, policy uncertainty, financing constraints and execution risk as the reasons investors have grown more selective since 2025.

The approaches differ by geography, according to PwC. US regulators are increasingly focused on whether data centers should carry more of the cost of transmission, capacity and reliability upgrades. Alberta's deregulated market gives large users room to procure or co-locate their own generation. In the UK and Europe, grid bottlenecks are raising the value of network assets while leaving open who funds reinforcement.

Buyers are gravitating toward three kinds of assets, according to PwC: those with clear cost recovery, those backed by contracted offtake, and those that serve large-load customers directly. Where rules are less settled, PwC says buyers can expect approvals to take longer, political scrutiny to intensify, and valuations to become harder to pin down. In the US, PwC notes that regulators are paying closer attention to how much of the bill for transmission, capacity, and reliability upgrades data centres ought to pick up.

Higher values, tighter screens

Neither firm reads the record as a return to easy money. Deloitte says the first-half surge builds on a record 2025 driven by expected demand growth from digital infrastructure, and that its February 2026 report on who will own the power anticipated the dynamics now playing out. But it pairs that with the observation that investors are screening harder on regulation, affordability, financing and execution.

PwC's version is that the AI energy nexus it flagged at the start of the year still drives most activity, but the story has broadened to energy security, affordability and efficiency at once. Geopolitical instability and concerns about critical shipping routes are adding price volatility that makes near-term valuation harder, the firm says, while increasing long-term interest in domestically anchored supply and infrastructure control.

Put the two together and the second half looks like a market that will keep paying for the right asset in the right jurisdiction and walking away from the rest. PwC expects markets with clearer infrastructure-funding rules to attract more capital; where the cost burden is uncertain, it says deals may become harder to price and execute. For a utility capital planner, that suggests the regulatory clarity of a service territory is now a factor in its cost of capital, not only in its rate case.

Questions a large-load power buyer should bring to the next utility meeting

• Cost allocation: PwC describes three routes for paying for the grid, generation and storage needed to serve large-load customers: costs paid directly by data centres and other large-load customers, costs recovered through utility rates from households and businesses, or costs shared through new contractual and regulatory models.
• Contracted cash flows: both Deloitte and PwC report buyers prioritising contracted cash flows, and PwC says buyer interest is growing in assets that have contracted offtake or that serve large-load customers directly.
• Regional differences: PwC says deregulation in Alberta, Canada gives large users more flexibility to procure or co-locate generation, while network assets in the UK and Europe are gaining value because of grid bottlenecks, which is also raising questions about who funds reinforcement.
• Gas supply: PwC reports capital flowing into LNG, upstream gas, midstream connectivity, dispatchable generation and grid infrastructure, and points to Shell's proposed $16.4 billion acquisition of ARC Resources and Mitsubishi Corporation's proposed $5.2 billion acquisition of Aethon III as examples.