AI Boom Helps Score $12 Billion Deal for Little-Known LS Power

LS Power bet on buying and building natural gas power plants at a time when some analysts considered them almost relics, doomed to be sidelined by solar and wind.

Now, utilities see gas-fired plants as essential to meeting a surge of electricity demand from new data centers. And LS’s gamble on gas has produced a $12 billion payday.

The New York development and investment company, little known outside its industry, announced a deal Monday for NRG Energy Inc. to buy 18 of its gas-burning plants, capable of generating enough power for about 10.4 million homes. The agreement also saw ...