The Private Equity Climate Risks Project examines twenty of the largest and most influential private equity firms in the global energy sector^[1]. Our flagship report, the Private Equity Climate Risks Scorecard, last updated in fall 2024, detailed these firms’ exposure to coal-fired power plants, liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals, and upstream oil and gas facilities, and the associated climate impacts. The new research in this briefing adds gas-fired power plants to that analysis, revealing that these firms are linked to an additional 82 million metric tons of CO₂-equivalent emissions per year, or roughly the same climate impact as the annual electricity use of seventeen million U.S. homes. Including this data fills a critical gap in understanding private equity’s expanding footprint in the global gas supply chain.^[2]

Together, these private equity (PE) firms are invested in nearly 60 gigawatts of operating gas-fired power capacity globally, a figure comparable to or exceeding that of many nations. If these PE-backed plants formed a single national fleet, only six countries—the United States, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Iran—would have larger gas-fired capacities.^[3] In addition, PE firms hold stakes in at least another 5.9 gigawatts of capacity in the planning pipeline.^[4]

Together, these private equity (PE) firms are invested in nearly 60 gigawatts of operating gas-fired power capacity globally, a figure comparable to or exceeding that of many nations.

Private equity’s gas fleet creates costs

These private equity-backed gas plants emit an estimated 82 million metric tons of CO₂e each year—roughly the same climate impact as the annual electricity use of seventeen million U.S. homes.^[5] These emissions come from just 35 portfolio companies. The top company by emissions, Alpha Generation (backed by ArcLight), produces an estimated 17 million metric tons of CO₂e per year from gas-fired power plants.

These plants also carry steep human health costs. A typical power generator in this dataset—about 300 megawatts—would result in an estimated $21–28 million in annual health damages if located in a mid-sized U.S. city like Duluth, Minnesota (population ~ 285,000). These damages stem from air pollution–linked diseases including asthma, lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.^[6] Across 147 power plants worldwide, this fleet creates a significant burden on public health.^[7]

Global scope, local concentration

The plants in this dataset span twenty-seven countries across all stages of economic development. Just over half of capacity in this study—35 gigawatts—is located in the United States, accounting for about 6% of all operating gas-fired power in the US.

However, concentration levels of private equity ownership are much higher elsewhere: In Togo and Panama, more than half of their operating gas capacity is linked to private equity, while in Jamaica and the Philippines, that figure is roughly one-third.^[8] In the United Kingdom, more than one fifth of all gas-fired capacity in planning stages is linked to private equity investment.^[9]

Private equity firms are targeting investments at the nexus of data center energy demand and fossil fuel power generation

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) is fueling a boom in data center construction — and with it, a surge in projected demand for electricity. The digital sector’s appetite for energy has triggered a frenzy among investors eager to capitalize. Despite growing skepticism that the AI rush may be more of a market bubble than a breakthrough, private equity firms are positioning themselves at the center of this transformation, financing both the servers that run AI models and the power plants that keep them running.^[10]

Since January 2022, private equity firms have invested in over 450 data center companies globally, spending nearly $200 billion and driving 80–90% of all mergers and acquisitions in the sector over the past three years.^[11] Private equity’s reach now extends well beyond data center walls. As AI accelerates projected electricity demand, investors are snapping up existing power generators, cancelling retirements of aging gas and coal plants, and proposing new fossil-fuel projects to keep pace.^[12]

According to data from Global Energy Monitor’s Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker, the United States more than doubled its oil- and gas-fired capacity in development over the last year, reaching 85 gigawatts of projects in the announced, pre-construction, or construction phase.^[13] This growth is occurring alongside record private equity spending on data centers—an alignment that underscores how fossil power and AI are becoming financially intertwined, deepening carbon lock-in.

Two of the world’s largest asset managers, BlackRock and Blackstone, illustrate this convergence. Both already hold electric utilities in their portfolios and are pursuing new deals that could give them purview over nearly 11 million energy customers across the United States, the United Kingdom, and El Salvador.^[14]

• BlackRock, through its subsidiary Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), recently secured approval for a $6.2 billion acquisition of ALLETE Inc., parent company of Minnesota Power.
• BlackRock/GIP is also pursuing a $38 billion takeover of AES Corp., one of the largest publicly traded utilities in the United States—a move that would mark the largest utility acquisition in history.^[15]
• Blackstone, meanwhile, has been quietly assembling pieces of the AI infrastructure supply chain and is now setting its sights on utility infrastructure as well.^[16] In May 2025, the private equity firm announced plans to acquire TXNM, the parent company of the Public Service Company of New Mexico and the largest utility in New Mexico, in a $11 billion take-private acquisition.^[17]

The emerging picture is one where private equity not only profits from AI’s expansion but increasingly owns the physical backbone that powers it.

For more analysis on the connections between private equity and data centers and energy development, see: From Power Plants to Processors: Private Equity’s Big Bet on the Data Center Pipeline recently published by Private Equity Stakeholder Project.^[18]

^[1] PECR Scorecard Firms: Apollo Global management, ArcLight, Ares Management, BlackRock Private Equity Partners/Global Infrastructure Partners, Blackstone, Brookfield/Oaktree, Carlyle/NGP, EIG, EnCap, Energy Capital Partners, EQT, I Squared, IFM, Kayne Anderson, KKR, MacQuarie, Quantum Energy Partners, Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, TPG, Warburg Pincus.

^[2] Global Energy Monitor, “Global Energy Ownership Tracker”. Accessed August 2025. https://globalenergymonitor.org/projects/global-energy-ownership-tracker/.

^[3] Global Energy Monitor, “Global Oil & Gas Plant Tracker”. Accessed July, 2025. https://globalenergymonitor.org/projects/global-oil-gas-plant-tracker/. January 2025 release version.

^[4] Defined as units that are “Announced”, “Pre-permitted”, “Permitted”, or under “Construction”.

^[5] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator,” last updated February 24, 2025, accessed October 2025, https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator

^[6] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “CO-Benefits Risk Assessment Health Impacts Screening and Mapping Tool (COBRA),” last updated September 2, 2025, accessed September 2025, https://www.epa.gov/cobra; U.S. Census Bureau, “Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Totals: 2020-2024,” last revised March 2025, accessed September 2025, https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-metro-and-micro-statistical-areas.html

^[7] For more information and analysis on human health impacts from private equity-backed fossil fuel infrastructure, see: https://peclimaterisks.org/health-impact-report/

^[8] For more analysis on private equity’s involvement in the energy sector in the Global South, see a forthcoming report on this topic at: https://peclimaterisks.org/

^[9]  Global Energy Monitor, “Global Oil & Gas Plant Tracker”. Accessed July, 2025. https://globalenergymonitor.org/projects/global-oil-gas-plant-tracker/. January 2025 release version.

^[10]  “America’s Top Companies Keep Talking About AI — But Can’t Explain the Upsides,” Financial Times, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.ft.com/content/e93e56df-dd9b-40c1-b77a-dba1ca01e473;  “One Force Is Propping Up the Economy. Fears Are Growing It Won’t Last,” Washington Post, September 30, 2025, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/09/30/ai-economy-investment-bubble/

^[11]  Our Financial Security, Private Equity and the New Silicon Rush (March 3, 2025), accessed October 16, 2025, https://ourfinancialsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Private-Equity-and-the-New-Silicon-Rush.pdf

^[12] Ethan Howland, “Quantum in $3B Deal to Buy Cogentrix, with Its 5.3 GW of Gas Generation, from Carlyle,” Utility Dive, August 6, 2024, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.utilitydive.com/news/quantum-cogentrix-carlyle-sale-gas/723420/

Darren Sweeney, Taylor Kuykendall, and Susan Dlin, “U.S. Power Generators Pump the Brakes on Coal Plant Retirements,” S&P Global Commodity Insights, November 5, 2024, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.spglobal.com/commodity-insights/en/news-research/latest-news/electric-power/110524-us-power-generators-pump-the-brakes-on-coal-plant-retirements. S&P Global

Abbe Ramanan, “Coal- and Gas-Fired Power Plants Have a New Best Friend: Data Centers,” Utility Dive, circa July 28, 2025, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.utilitydive.com/news/fossil-fuel-gas-coal-climate-data-centers/753565/

“Private Equity Giants Invest $50B to Help Scale Data Center, Power Generation Infrastructure,” Power Engineering, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.power-eng.com/business/private-equity-giants-invest-50b-to-help-scale-data-center-power-generation-infrastructure/

“Private Equity Bets Big on Utilities,” Financial Times, October 7, 2025, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.ft.com/content/1d82fcfc-d582-4d8a-9d2e-afcde8492a30

Ivan Penn, “BlackRock Eyes Minnesota Power Deal Amid Energy Sector Shifts,” The New York Times, July 17, 2025, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/business/energy-environment/blackrock-minnesota-power.html

^[13]Jenny Martos, Global Energy Monitor, “Proposed Gas-Fired Power Plants in the United States Rise Due to AI Energy Demand Speculation but Remain Largely in Early Development Stage”, Feb 2025, accessed October 16, 2025, https://globalenergymonitor.org/report/proposed-gas-fired-power-plants-in-the-united-states-rise-due-to-ai-energy-demand-speculation-but-remain-largely-in-early-development-stage/.

^[14] “Private Equity Bets Big on Utilities,” Financial Times, October 7, 2025, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.ft.com/content/1d82fcfc-d582-4d8a-9d2e-afcde8492a30

^[15]  “BlackRock’s GIP Nears $38 bn Takeover of Utility AES,” Financial Times, October 1, 2025, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.ft.com/content/009d96c8-db70-4eee-ab7f-4bb59bacb86e.

Silla Brush and Josh Saul, “BlackRock’s GIP Wins Approval of $6 Billion Allete Deal,” Bloomberg News, October 3, 2025, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-03/blackrock-s-gip-wins-approval-of-6-billion-allete-utility-deal

^[16] Alissa Jean Schafer, “Critical Questions About Private Equity’s Big Bet on Data Centers,” Private Equity Stakeholder Project, March 17, 2025, accessed October 16, 2025, https://pestakeholder.org/news/critical-questions-about-private-equitys-big-bet-on-data-centers/

Blackstone, “TXN&M Energy Enters Agreement to Be Acquired by Blackstone Infrastructure,” accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.blackstone.com/news/press/txnm-energy-enters-agreement-to-be-acquired-by-blackstone-infrastructure/.

^[17]Blackstone, “TXNM Energy Enters Agreement to Be Acquired by Blackstone Infrastructure,” May 19, 2025, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.blackstone.com/news/press/txnm-energy-enters-agreement-to-be-acquired-by-blackstone-infrastructure/

^[18] Private Equity Stakeholder Project, “From Power Plants to Processors: Private Equity’s Big Bet on the Data Center Pipeline”

^[19] Global Energy Monitor, “Global Energy Ownership Tracker”. Accessed August 2025. https://globalenergymonitor.org/projects/global-energy-ownership-tracker/;

Global Energy Monitor, “Global Oil & Gas Plant Tracker”. Accessed July, 2025. https://globalenergymonitor.org/projects/global-oil-gas-plant-tracker/. January 2025 release version.