Constellation Energy has reached an antitrust settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the state of Texas, enabling its $26.6 billion acquisition of Calpine to move forward. Under the agreement, Constellation will sell six power plants and a minority stake in a seventh to address concerns that the merger could reduce competition and increase electricity costs in key U.S. markets.

The DOJ noted that the merger, without divestitures, could allow Constellation to withhold power supplies, potentially raising electricity costs by over $100 million annually in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and PJM Interconnection regions. Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater emphasized the importance of maintaining competitive electricity markets for U.S. consumers.

The divestitures include notable facilities such as the 828-MW York 2 Energy Center in Pennsylvania, the 609-MW Jack A. Fusco Energy Center near Houston, and a 19-MW stake in the Gregory Power Plant near Corpus Christi, Texas. Constellation must complete the asset sales within 240 days of closing the Calpine acquisition.

Once finalized, Constellation will operate roughly 55 GW of energy generation across nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, cogeneration, and battery storage technologies, significantly expanding from Calpine’s current 27 GW. The agreement marks the first DOJ antitrust consent decree in an electricity merger in 14 years.

Source: utilitydive.com