IHI Power Services has been rebranded as Kyuden Energy Partners by its new Japanese owners and aims to help meet the surging U.S. demand for reliable electricity generation.
The Aliso Viejo-based company provides operations and maintenance, asset management, technical and compliance services for the power generation industry. The company’s sale to Kyuden International was announced in March.
“While our headquarters will remain in Orange County, we will be establishing a regional office in New York,” CEO Tony Dabbene told the Business Journal on July 27.
He said he will stay on as CEO and “the entire executive team is remaining in place.”
Kyuden International Strengthens Local Firm
Dabbene said Kyuden International’s backing “strengthens our organization, broadens our reach and deepens the resources behind every project we take on.”
Kyuden Energy Partners says it has a “stronger foundation” under the new owners.
The company was managing 31 power plants in the U.S. as of March, Dabbene said at the time. It had previously been a subsidiary of IHI Corp. of Japan, before its sale to Kyuden International,
U.S. electricity demand is projected to surge in 2026, driven by an AI-fueled surge in data center construction forecast to more than double grid power needs by 2027, according to Goldman Sachs Research.
The Electric Power Research Institute earlier this year said data centers could consume 9%-17% of U.S. electricity generation by 2030—more than double current use—with eight states seeing much higher percentages.
Aging infrastructure and accelerating renewable integration are also straining grid reliability, further tested by surging air conditioner demand during regional heat waves.
As of March, the company had more than 40 employees at corporate headquarters out of a total workforce of more than 500.
Launch at Ritz in Laguna Niguel
The rebranded company was officially launched on July 23 during a ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel.
It is the Kyuden Group’s first-ever U.S. operations and maintenance investment, bringing global capital and backing to a local 40-year-old power plant operator.
Kyuden International Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyushu Electric Power Company—one of Japan’s most powerful electric utilities and a cornerstone of the country’s energy infrastructure for over 70 years.
Dabbene, who also served as IHI Power Services chief financial officer, was honored in May 2025 with a lifetime achievement award at the Business Journal’s CFO of the Year event.
Foreign direct investment into U.S. utilities reached $16 billion in 2024 per the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of a growing global commitment to energy infrastructure investment.