The growth of data centers and artificial intelligence will continue to drive the energy dealmaking bus in 2026, while a tax credit for renewable energy projects is set to expire this year.

Here are the energy transactional trends that attorneys will be watching this year.

Data Center Deals Will Dominate

Data centers were the energy deal story of 2025, as developers sealed power purchase agreements with power plant owners and made deals with utilities to fund the construction of plants and related transmission.

Attorneys say there are no signs of a slowdown this year, though some of the focus may shift to deals related to data center deployment.

"More leasing, more financing and more delivery of data center projects," said Duane Morris LLP partner Robert Montejo, who focuses on data center development. "Maybe not at the same scale of power plants, but I think we'll see the actual build-out, and in 2027 users taking delivery."

To read the full text of this article, please visit the Law360 site (subscription required).