The Shifting Finance of Electricity Generation

Abstract: Private equity (PE), institutional investors, and foreign corporations own 58% of wind, 47% of solar, and 34% of natural gas electricity generation. These new entrants are twice as likely to create new power plants as incumbent domestic listed utilities, highlighting a new role for PE in large-scale asset creation. They also acquire existing plants. While fossil-fuel plant sales to foreign corporations extend operations, PE has similar decommissioning rates to incumbents. The new owners create more efficient plants and improve acquired ones. Market deregulation drives the results, highlighting the dual importance of competition and new financing for both creation and acquisitions.

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