Energy IPOs surge as investors hunt for ways to play AI boom

Energy companies are raising money at IPO at their fastest pace this century, taking advantage of investors’ hunt for new ways to bet on the boom in power-intensive AI data centers. Initial public offerings for energy firms raised $12.6 billion in the first half of this year, according to data firm Dealogic. That marks the highest half-year level since the peak of the dotcom bubble in late 1999 and the highest first-half figure on record. It is well above 2025’s full-year total of $4.3 billion. The surge in fundraising comes as access to the vast amounts of energy needed to run data centers emerges as a bottleneck in a multi-trillion-dollar AI investment boom. “Investors started by buying AI-linked names like Nvidia. Then they said, ‘hold on, every chip needs energy to power it,’” said RBC clean energy analyst Chris Dendrinos. “That’s put a huge tailwind behind these companies.” A typical AI-focused data center uses around 876,000 megawatt hours per year, roughly equivalent to the household electricity usage of Glasgow or Salt Lake City. US electricity demand is projected to increase 39 percent between 2026 and 2035, according to consultancy ICF, in large part due to ballooning demand from data centers. The 2026 IPO market will be remembered both for SpaceX and as “the year that financed the AI revolution’s infrastructure,” said Bill Smith, head of IPO data provider Renaissance Capital. Among companies coming to market is Forgent Power Solutions, which designs and manufactures electrical distribution equipment used in data centers. It raised $1.7 billion from its IPO in February, capitalizing on strong demand and long wait times for technologies such as transformers and switchgears, which are used to protect electrical equipment. Investor interest in these IPOs comes amid growing concerns over whether hyperscalers, whose shares have soared in recent years, will be able to convert their huge spending into profits. Many traders are instead starting to look at smaller companies or those in other sectors that are likely to benefit from this wave of investment.