Most Renewables and Microgrid Acquisitions Now Focused on Powering Data Centers: Deloitte Report
The interest in data center growth right now from investors, developers and power producers is driving acquisitions and mergers aimed at building the facilities and feeding them power–from microgrids, gas turbines and renewables.
“There's a lot of interest in data centers, which inherently requires you to come to market with not just the data center, but the power solution for the data center,” said Keith Adams, partner at Deloitte.
Power companies have always been land developers, so it makes sense that they want to get into building data centers and generation assets, he added.
Report finds power-related transactions were renewables in 2025
Deloitte has released a report, “Who will own the Power? AI Data Centers Drive Power and Utilities Mergers and Acquisitions,” which found that of all U.S. power-related capacity transactions in 2025, half were renewables, at over 75 GW–up from 61 GW in 2024.
Renewables–and microgrids–are seen as capable of delivering both capacity and reliability, and can be built more quickly than gas-fired plants, Adams said.
Companies–larger independent power producers, renewables operators and utilities– that are investing in microgrids are looking for the opportunity to sell off smaller, behind-the-meter assets so they can put the capital into their core portfolios.
Others in the space interested in microgrids want to add to their portfolios operating assets so that they can deliver the secure power that data centers are seeking, he said.
Why buy microgrids and behind-the-meter assets?
And some entities are purchasing microgrids and behind-the-meter assets because they’re building their business and want to operate those assets at a larger scale.
In most cases, these companies are looking to supply reliable and dispatchable power to data centers and other large loads.
“Folks are building and/or acquiring large-scale assets in markets where there are data centers, and we see folks building microgrid-scale assets in those marketplaces,” he said.
Power development is occurring near data centers or in areas where data centers are being developed, he noted.
“We're seeing folks evaluate putting their own utility-scale gas turbines next door to data centers so they have firm power,” Adams said. But because turbines are in short supply, it’s often not possible to get a gas plant up and running quickly, so data center developers are connecting to the grid or establishing on-site power and storage until they can develop large-scale gas plants on site.
Power companies attractive to investors
Investors see power as an attractive market right now, but are specifically interested in distributed power and microgrids, he said. “Non -traditional infrastructure-type investors are getting excited about all things power,” he said.
In addition, technology companies and hyperscalers are taking a greater stake in power to help fuel growth. Deloitte is also seeing more joint venture-style collaboration between data centers and power companies.
Two examples from the microgrid industry are Scale Microgrids’ recent acquisition of Reload and Zeo Energy’s memorandum of understanding with Creekstone Energy, which provides power for data centers and large loads.
Scale Microgrids acquires Reload
Scale Microgrids announced Feb. 23 that it’s focusing on delivering, owning and operating on-site energy centers that allow customers to circumvent long interconnection queues while leaving the opportunity for grid connections later on. Scale has financial backing from equity partner EQT, a natural gas company focused on developing its asset base.
To help achieve this goal, Scale Microgrids acquired Reload, which sites, designs and permits gigawatt-scale data center campuses along with power assets that can be quickly deployed.
The acquisition gives Scale land-development expertise and a pipeline of data center campuses that require power, the company said.
Along with the announcement, Scale said it had signed a contract to provide a multi-hundred megawatt on-site energy system for a leading hyperscale customer. This makes the company one of only a few that are now building on-site energy systems for off-grid data centers, Scale said in a press release.
Zeo Energy acquires storage company, plans to power data center microgrid
And Zeo Energy, which recently acquired Heliogen to provide long-duration energy generation and storage, signed a memorandum of understanding to develop about 280 MW of energy generation to support Creekstone Energy’s data center campus under construction in Millard County, Utah. Initially, the power will come from an off-grid microgrid comprised of renewables and energy storage and long-term, the microgrid will be grid-tied, said Tim Bridgewater, CEO of ZEO Energy in an interview.
“Creekstone can’t get grid power from Rocky Mountain Power initially, so the first phase will be completely off-grid,” he said. He claimed that the power will cost less than 10 cents/kWh.
Beginning with off-grid power is typical of data centers, said Adams.
Also typical right now are investors, data centers and microgrid companies looking for new opportunities to profit from the growth in AI.
“I think as there's this scramble for a supply demand balance and trying to keep up meeting the demand requirements, and then also the growth of demand from AI,” he said. “I think everybody's changing how they look at the world to find new opportunities.”
About the Author
Lisa Cohn
Contributing Editor
I focus on the West Coast and Midwest. Email me at [email protected]
I’ve been writing about energy for more than 20 years, and my stories have appeared in EnergyBiz, SNL Financial, Mother Earth News, Natural Home Magazine, Horizon Air Magazine, Oregon Business, Open Spaces, the Portland Tribune, The Oregonian, Renewable Energy World, Windpower Monthly and other publications. I’m also a former stringer for the Platts/McGraw-Hill energy publications. I began my career covering energy and environment for The Cape Cod Times, where Elisa Wood also was a reporter. I’ve received numerous writing awards from national, regional and local organizations, including Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Willamette Writers, Associated Oregon Industries, and the Voice of Youth Advocates. I first became interested in energy as a student at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, where I helped design and build a solar house.
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