US Market Trends: Energizing AI, Trump 2.0, and Power Sector M&A

The US energy investment landscape is undergoing significant change amid evolving federal policy, rising electricity demand, and increasing focus on domestic energy security. During a program co-hosted with Sojitz Corporation and PEI Global Partners, Ayaz Shaikh and Kris Kirkwood examined the market trends shaping investment opportunities across the energy sector.

The conversation focused on how investors are responding to shifting policy priorities, growing demand from artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers, and the need for reliable power, transmission infrastructure, and resilient supply chains. 

Key takeaways include: 

• Energy policy has shifted from maximizing clean energy deployment to prioritizing energy security, reliability, and domestic supply chains. Under the Trump administration, federal support is concentrated around natural gas, nuclear, critical minerals, and domestic manufacturing, while tax incentives for wind, solar, and electric vehicles are being phased out more aggressively. 
• AI and data center growth are reshaping the investment landscape. As data centers become a major driver of electricity demand, investors are increasingly focused on energy sources and infrastructure that can provide reliable, scalable, and domestically sourced power. 
• Natural gas remains a near-term beneficiary of rising electricity demand. The presentation highlighted natural gas as the fastest path to adding firm generation capacity for data centers, with significant new project development and continued support from existing storage and carbon capture incentives. 
• Energy storage, nuclear, and geothermal continue to present opportunities for clean energy investment despite broader policy shifts. Existing federal incentives remain available for several technologies that can provide reliable, around-the-clock or grid-supporting power, and major corporate and financial investors are helping validate demand through large-scale commitments. 
• Transmission infrastructure and critical minerals may be as important as power generation itself. Grid interconnection delays, transmission constraints, and the push to build domestic supply chains for key minerals are creating investment opportunities across the energy value chain.