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LS Power COO: a 1 GW gas plant now costs north of $3 billion, about double six to seven years ago

After closing a $6 billion private equity fund, LS Power's chief operating officer told Utility Dive that building a 1 GW combined-cycle gas plant now costs north of $3 billion and can take four to six years from start to energization.

By Greener Numbers Editorial Team · Published October 20, 2026 · Updated 10/20/2026

LS Power has closed a $6 billion private equity funding round, up from an initial $4 billion target, the company said earlier this month. About $1.7 billion of that money is dedicated to LS Power's planned purchase of about 5 GW of generation from Constellation Energy. The company says it has raised more than $19 billion in private equity since it relaunched that business after the power plant bankruptcies of the early 2000s.

In an interview with Utility Dive published October 20, 2026, LS Power chief operating officer Darpan Kapadia said electricity demand, which grew between 0 and 0.5 percent a year for two decades, is now growing 1 to 4 or 5 percent a year depending on the market, with much of the new demand for firm capacity.

On costs, Kapadia said a 1 GW combined-cycle gas plant built today has an all-in cost probably north of $3 billion, probably twice as much as six or seven years ago. He said rising interest rates are part of the increase but not critical. He also said it can take four, five or six years from start to energization for a large combined-cycle project in PJM or any other market, because interconnection and equipment procurement take longer and need more capital.

The fund will target conventional generation, renewables and distributed resources. Utility Dive's photo caption notes the company owns the 250 MW Gateway battery storage facility in San Diego through REV Renewables and is considering building battery storage across U.S. markets.

The cost and timeline figures are one executive's estimates from an interview, not an industry survey. For electricity buyers, the point is that new firm capacity is slow and expensive to add, which keeps pressure on capacity prices while demand grows.

Official source: Utility Dive ↗