Power-related stocks sparked the hottest IPO frenzy of the century in the first half of 2026. According to Dealogic statistics, global energy-sector listings raised $12.6 billion in the first half of this year, setting the highest half-year record since the 1999 dot-com bubble peak. The core driving force is electricity-supply anxiety for AI data centers.
H1 2026 Energy Sector IPO Size: Dealogic Tracks $12.6 Billion
According to data firm Dealogic, in the first half of 2026, global energy-sector stock offerings raised a total of $12.6 billion, the highest semiannual IPO record since the 1999 dot-com bubble peak. It is also the highest in history for the same period. Compared with the $4.3 billion size for all of 2025, the growth rate is close to threefold.
Fervo Energy Surges More Than 33% on First Day, GMO Power ETF Launches, and Standard Nuclear’s Listing Timeline
Key market events from energy IPOs in the first half of 2026 are as follows:
Fervo Energy: A geothermal energy company. Its IPO raised about $1.9 billion. Its share price jumped more than 33% on the first day of trading, and it is viewed as the largest clean-energy IPO on record
GMO Power Infrastructure ETF: Launched this week by ETF provider GMO, targeting stocks related to power generation, the power grid, and electrification
Standard Nuclear: A nuclear energy startup expected to list in the U.S. in late July 2026. The exact date will be subject to the official announcement
2026 IPO Plans: Market statistics show that in 2026, at least 10 power infrastructure and clean technology companies plan to go public
U.S. Utility M&A: In the first five months of 2026, U.S. utility mergers and acquisitions totaled $203.6 billion, already surpassing the full-year total of 2025
Investment Logic Behind Chip Money Flowing Into Power Stocks
RBC Clean Energy analyst Chris Dendrinos said in an interview: “Investors initially bought AI concept stocks like Nvidia, and then they thought about it: every chip needs power to operate.”
This statement captures the basic logic behind this round of hot money rotation: a typical AI data center uses about 876,000 million kWh of electricity per year—equivalent to the annual household electricity use of an entire city like Glasgow in the UK or Salt Lake City in the U.S. And what AI training and inference require is baseload power—steady electricity 24 hours a day—from nuclear power, natural gas, and so on, not intermittent wind or solar.
Building new power plants or upgrading power grids usually takes five to 10 years—far longer than the one to two year construction timeline for data centers. This timing mismatch is a key reason investors are focusing on power infrastructure.
ICF’s 39% Electricity Demand Growth Forecast and Kabra’s Strategy Allocation at Industrial Bank
ICF consulting firm estimates that U.S. electricity demand will grow by 39% between 2026 and 2035, with the main driver being a sharp increase in data center electricity demand. Manish Kabra, head of U.S. equity strategy at Société Générale (French bank), said in an interview: “Expanding power capacity, the return of U.S. manufacturing, AI-related infrastructure investment... still remains one of our core directions for strategy allocation.”
Kabra’s remarks echo RBC Dendrinos’ view, reflecting consistent attention from multiple institutions on the power infrastructure investment track. Market observers also draw parallels between this energy IPO boom and the valuation surge of infrastructure companies such as routers and fiber optics during the 1999 dot-com bubble period, pointing out that at the time, it was the providers of underlying infrastructure that truly benefited steadily.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the source of the $12.6 billion data for energy IPOs in the first half of 2026?
The figure comes from data firm Dealogic’s statistics, covering total IPO proceeds from energy-sector stocks worldwide from January to June 2026. Dealogic characterizes it as the highest half-year IPO record since the 1999 dot-com bubble peak, and also the highest for the same period in history.
Why is the Fervo Energy IPO called the largest clean-energy IPO in history?
Fervo Energy, a geothermal energy company, completed its IPO in 2026, raising about $1.9 billion. Its share price jumped more than 33% on the first day. Market statistics define it as the largest clean-energy IPO by size on record; the related size record follows the statistics methodologies used by each institution.
How much does ICF forecast U.S. electricity demand will grow in the future?
ICF consulting firm estimates that U.S. electricity demand will grow by 39% between 2026 and 2035, mainly driven by a sharp surge in AI data center electricity demand. This is ICF’s forecast number; subsequent updates to official statistics will apply.
