DigitalBridge's ArcLight Buy Highlights Data Center Needs

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Written by Will Ploch, Assistant Editor-in-Chief for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

The PJM Interconnection is one of the top destinations for data-center developers, and DigitalBridge's pending acquisition of ArcLight shows how far some operators will go to keep their campuses running.

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Zeroing in on the PJM

One of the biggest issues facing data-center developers is how to efficiently energize their massive campuses, which are known for gobbling up as much electricity as small to mid-sized cities. DigitalBridge Group Incorporated, which is developing data centers across five continents, may have hit on the most obvious solution: Buy your own power company. It agreed last week to acquire ArcLight Capital Partners LLC, one of the largest private power generators in the U.S., for up to $1.05 billion. Industrial Info Resources is tracking more than $122 billion worth of active and proposed projects from DigitalBridge and more than $8 billion from ArcLight.

Any such deal depends on "location, location, location," and this is no exception: ArcLight owns about 7 gigawatts (GW) of power-generation assets in the PJM Interconnection region, one of the top destinations for data center developers. According to Industrial Info Resources data, the region is home to nearly 500 operational data centers, including 28 owned by DigitalBridge, and roughly $1.2 trillion worth of active and proposed data-center projects, including about $14.7 billion from DigitalBridge.

The PJM Interconnection is the largest Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) in North America, supervising the movement of electricity across 13 states: Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Among DigitalBridge's projects under construction are the first phases of several planned data-center campuses across Virginia, including:

• the IAD5 campus in Culpeper, the first phase of which is expected to carry up to 72 megawatts (MW) for information-technology (IT) equipment, such as servers, storage and networking hardware, commonly called "critical IT capacity"
• the VA3 campus in Ashburn, the first of a three-building complex, with a 64-MW critical IT capacity
• the VA4 campus in Fredericksburg, the first of a seven-building complex, with a 52-MW critical IT capacity

DigitalBridge expects future expansions will bring the full critical IT capacities for the IAD5 and VA3 campuses to 192 MW each, and VA4 campus to 288 MW. Industrial Info Resources offers more information on these projects in its Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database, where readers can find details--including construction schedules, investment values and necessary equipment--in detailed project reports for IAD5, VA3 and VA4.

The company also expects to finish construction later this year on Building 2 and Building 3 at its OH1 campus in New Albany, Ohio, following the completion of Building 1 toward the end of last year. Each building has a 64-MW critical IT capacity, for a total of 192 MW. Readers can learn more from detailed reports on Building 1, Building 2 and Building 3.

By the Numbers

• More than $122 billion: Total value of active and proposed projects from DigitalBridge worldwide
• Nearly 500: Total number of operational data centers in PJM Interconnection region
• About $1.2 trillion: Total value of active and proposed data-center projects in PJM region

Shining a Light on Data Centers

Industrial Info Resources is tracking activity at 16 power-generation facilities across the PJM region owned by ArcLight. At its 1.4-gigawatt (GW), natural gas-fired Bergen Power Plant in Ridgefield, New Jersey, the company is weighing the proposed addition of a battery energy-storage system (BESS) unit, which would have a 600-megawatt-hour (MWh) capacity. While this project is in its early stages, it received the backing of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) in March, which selected it as part of its Garden State Energy Storage Programme.

New Jersey's program aims to deploy 2 GW of energy storage by 2030. The Bergen Power Plant is managed by Alpha Generation, an ArcLight subsidiary. Readers can learn more from a detailed plant profile and project report.

Data-center development has been a focus of ArcLight's recent activity. In July 2025, the company acquired Advanced Power, an infrastructure developer that catered to the needs of data-center developers and hyperscalers. At the time, ArcLight announced it would "invest more than $5 billion of equity over the next five years to enable the acceleration of North America's AI and data-center infrastructure growth."

It is not yet clear how an acquisition by DigitalBridge would affect these plans, but the two companies singled out such ambitions in a press release announcing the deal: "The combination forms a leading alternative asset manager at the convergence of power, AI and digital infrastructure, bringing together two specialist platforms with combined assets representing more than $150 billion."

DigitalBridge's acquisition of ArcLight is expected to close in the second half of this year.

The Industrial Info Resources GMI Project and Plant databases offer a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and a full list of related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources also offers a full list of reports for projects owned by DigitalBridge and a full list of reports for projects owned by ArcLight.

Key Takeaways

• Data-center developer DigitalBridge agreed to acquire ArcLight Capital Partners, a private power generator.
• ArcLight owns about 7 GW of power-generation assets in the PJM Interconnection region, a hub for data-center development.
• ArcLight acquired Advanced Power last year, in an effort to boost its role in data-center development.

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About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news, and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing, and energy-related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified, and verified plant and project opportunities. Across the world, Industrial Info Resources is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 trillion (USD).