The US power sector is in the midst of a major transformation, driven by coal plant retirements, the expansion of renewables, evolving regulatory pressures, and shifting investor expectations.
This analysis examines the top 10 ultimate parent companies by financial control of power generation ("the Big 10"), assessing their absolute emissions, emissions intensity, and capacity changes from 2024 to 2029. While some companies are making steady progress, others are seeing sharp reduction in emissions likely tied to major transition milestones, such as plant closures or technology shifts. Natural gas continues to serve as a bridge fuel, while nuclear power plays a growing role in ensuring grid reliability amid the shift to low-carbon energy sources.
We also look at the 10 most emissions-efficient companies ("the Clean 10") to showcase those leading in clean energy production. Finally, a forward-looking scenario analysis of NextEra Energy, Duke Energy, and Constellation Energy explores how their emissions trajectories align with different transition scenarios.
This analysis provides key insights into how the sector is evolving, the pace of decarbonization, and the challenges that remain in meeting climate commitments.
The 10 largest ultimate parent companies in the US power sector. Consolidated by financial control of power generation (MWh) (see footnotes for details).
The top 10 ultimate parent companies with the lowest emissions intensity out of largest generators (see footnotes for more details).
We conducted a forward-looking scenario analysis of three major players in the power sector: NextEra Energy, Duke Energy, and Constellation Energy. Leveraging our detailed, real-time asset-based data, we evaluated how their emissions trajectories compare across various climate scenarios, highlighting their pathways toward alignment with global climate goals and their projected temperature scores by 2029. The analysis reveals significant differences in their transition strategies and underscores the value of independent, forward-looking insights in understanding future climate performance within the energy sector.
In this analysis we define power sector assets as electricity generation facilities, spanning coal-, gas-, and oil-fired power stations, hydroelectric dams, nuclear power plants, and renewables (including solar photovoltaic, concentrated solar power, onshore and offshore wind, biogas, and biomass). All references to emissions are to Scope 1 (direct) emissions from combustion of fuels and do not include emissions embedded in construction materials or indirect emissions associated with facilities’ operations. The data used for this analysis is the 2024Q1 Asset Impact company-level database.
The scope of our analysis includes power plants located within the United States of America (US). Most, but not all, of the power plants in these countries are owned by US-domiciled companies; we still include non-US companies with shares in US assets, such as the Government of Canada.
To link both electricity generation and associated emissions not just to the companies that own plants directly but also to their ultimate owners, we have consolidated by financial control. This means all the emissions from an underlying asset are allocated to the company that has majority ownership of it. In practice, minority-owned assets are excluded and majority-owned assets are allocated 100% to the parent company if it only owns over 51%.
The 'Big 10' are the top 10 ultimate parent companies in the US power sector consolidated by financial control of power generation (MWh).
The 'Clean 10' are the top 10 ultimate parent companies with the lowest emissions intensity out of the "large" energy generators (defined as those generating >10TWh in 2024) of which there were 54 ultimate owners).
About Asset Impact
Asset Impact provides asset-based climate data and analytics for the financial sector, with a focus on high-emitting industries. By linking financial portfolios to real-economy assets, companies, and securities, it enables detailed climate impact assessments. The database covers 300,000+ assets tied to 70,000+ public and private companies across 13 energy-intensive sectors – representing over 76% of global GHG emissions. Since 2022, Asset Impact has been part of GRESB, the global benchmark for sustainability in real asset investments.
Media Contact: For media inquiries, please contact Tyler Guthrie, Director of Marketing & Communications, at t.guthrie@gresb.com.
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