Constellation's and Vistra's stocks rally as power-grid operator speeds up data-center deals

By Claudia Assis

The move is grid operator PJM's admission that its capacity can't meet data-center-driven demand

Grid operator PJM moved up a key date by a year, to September.

Shares of power-plant owners Constellation Energy, NRG Energy and Vistra rallied Wednesday on news that the largest U.S. grid operator is speeding up plans to connect data centers with power producers.

Vistra's (VST) stock jumped around 7%, while Constellation (CEG) and NRG's stock (NRG) rose about 8%. Those closes were the highest in four months for NRG and the highest in a week for Constellation and Vistra.

Nonprofit grid operator PJM is a regional transmission organization, or RTO, that coordinates wholesale electricity markets in all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia, including northern Virginia's "Data Center Alley," where hundreds of data centers operate and dozens more are planned.

PJM said in a letter late Tuesday that it was moving up the date for data-center capacity procurement to this September. It was originally set for September 2027.

The move is "materially constructive" for the independent power providers, Nicholas Amicucci, an analyst with Evercore ISI, said in a note Wednesday.

The IPPs no longer have to wait for the 2026-27 procurement cycle, and the letter also is PJM's acknowledgment that it is "structurally short capacity" to meet data-center-driven demand, Amicucci said.

Surging demand from data centers, mostly driven by artificial intelligence, is upending the power-generation and utilities business.

NextEra said earlier this week it has agreed to pay $67 billion in an all-stock deal for Dominion, a deal that the companies expect to go through in 12 to 18 months, pending federal and state approvals.

A combined NextEra (NEE) and Dominion (D) would be a power behemoth serving residential and commercial customers in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, including Dominion's hold on Data Center Alley.

PJM last week called for a major overhaul as it balances surging power demand from data centers against worries about high residential electricity costs and the risk of shortages, saying that the current way of doing business "is not tenable."

-Claudia Assis

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05-20-26 1625ET