BALTIMORE, Md.- A power plant in Bethlehem is officially under new ownership. It will change hands again before the end of the year, by order of the federal government.

Last week, Constellation completed its $26.6 billion acquisition of Calpine Corporation from Energy Capital Partners (ECP). The combined company is now the largest wholesale power generator in the United States.

Among the assets now under Constellation’s umbrella is Calpine’s Bethlehem Energy Center, a natural gas combined cycle plant at 2254 Applebutter Road that opened in 2003. But Constellation will divest the plant later in 2026, in accordance with a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ’s Antitrust Division told Constellation the merger would not be approved unless the company parted ways with a total of six power plants in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The DOJ initially filed a civil lawsuit to block the deal, citing concerns about higher prices for consumers who use Texas’s ERCOT electricity grid, as well as those who rely on PJM Interconnection, which manages the electric grid for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and 11 other states and the District of Columbia.

The DOJ said its proposed settlement resolved those concerns.

A spokesperson for Constellation told 69 News the divestitures haven’t happened yet, but the company anticipates unloading all of the plants by the end of year. For now, Constellation and Calpine will continue to operate Bethlehem Energy Center. 

Constellation, with headquarters in Baltimore, Md., can claim 55 gigawatts of capacity from its nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind and solar facilities. According to the company, that’s enough generation to power the equivalent of 27 million homes.