Salem Twp., Luzerne County, PA -
Talen Energy Corporation, a leading independent power producer, announced it signed definitive agreements to acquire Caithness Energy’s Moxie Freedom Energy Center (“Moxie”) in Salem Township and Caithness Energy and BlackRock’s Guernsey Power Station (“Guernsey”) in Ohio — both combined-cycle gas-fired plants located within the PJM power market.
The Caithness Moxie Freedom Generating Station in Salem Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, is online and selling power into the markets of PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in thirteen Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.
This $1 billion, highly efficient facility uses Pennsylvania-produced, clean-burning natural gas to generate more than 1,000 megawatts of electric power, enough to supply approximately 900,000 homes throughout the region.
According to Talen Energy, the net acquisition price is $3.5 billion after adjusting for estimated tax benefits, or approximately $3.8 billion gross.
“This acquisition enhances Talen’s fleet by selectively adding modern, highly efficient baseload H-class CCGTs in Talen’s key markets, where we are an innovator in data center contracting,” said Mac McFarland, Talen president and chief executive officer. “The transaction is immediately and highly accretive, maintains our balance sheet discipline, and adds more than the equivalent of another Susquehanna nuclear plant to our platform, further enabling large load service.”
“Caithness has built an extensive portfolio of leading-edge power generation facilities to support our valued customers,” said James D. Bishop Jr., chairman and CEO of Caithness Energy. “We are proud of what we have accomplished and this sale to Talen positions the assets for continued success under a strong and successful management team.”
Talen Energy is the majority owner of the Susquehanna nuclear power plant. Talen announced last year that it had sold its data center to Amazon for $650 million in a deal to provide 960 megawatts eventually.
In June, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that Amazon is planning to invest at least $20 billion to establish multiple high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence innovation campuses across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania — one in Luzerne County and another in Bucks County.
This investment is expected to create at least 1,250 high-paying, high-tech jobs at data centers in Salem Township, Luzerne County — next to the Susquehanna nuclear power plant — and Falls Township, Bucks County — the first communities identified as sites for these future campuses. Shapiro and Amazon officials said multiple additional Pennsylvania communities are under consideration.
The news release from Talen Energy listed key strategic and acquisition highlights:
• The plants benefit from an advantageous location and reliable access to gas pipeline infrastructure from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, with their rich natural gas reserves and interconnects to primary natural gas pipelines.
• The addition of the facilities to Talen’s portfolio enhances Talen’s ability to offer reliable, scalable, grid-supported and regionally diverse low-carbon capacity to hyperscale data centers and large commercial off-takers. With greater operational flexibility, proximity to key load pockets, and proven track record in bilateral contracting, the proforma company will be well positioned to meet the evolving needs of high-growth, 24/7 power demand sectors.
• Talen expects to issue approximately $3.8 billion in new debt to fund the acquisitions and refinance target debt, using both secured and unsecured instruments.
• The Moxie and Guernsey transactions are both expected to close in Q4 2025.
