BETHLEHEM, Pa.- A power plant in Bethlehem will soon be under new ownership again.

Calpine Corporation’s Bethlehem Energy Center is being sold to the New York City-based LS Power. The site is one of several being divested by Constellation Energy Corporation to satisfy regulatory commitments related to Constellation’s acquisition of Calpine.

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

But the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) told Constellation it had to shed a total of six power plants in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Texas, including the Bethlehem Energy Center, a natural gas combined cycle plant at 2254 Applebutter Road that opened in 2003.

The DOJ initially filed a civil lawsuit to block the Calpine 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.

Constellation’s $5 billion deal with LS Power includes the Bethlehem plant, as well as York Energy Center (York 1 and York 2) near York, Pa.; and Hay Road Energy Center and Edge Moor Energy Center, both located in Wilmington, Del. The sites account for about 4.4 gigawatts of predominantly natural gas–fired generation capacity on the PJM grid, Constellation said.

Constellation has one more plant to divest to satisfy the DOJ resolution agreement: the Jack Fusco Energy Center, a 606-megawatt natural gas fired combined cycle facility outside Houston. The company already shed its minority ownership in the Gregory Power Plant near Corpus Christi, Texas.

The deal with LS Power is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approvals.

Constellation Energy, headquartered in Baltimore, Md., claims to be the largest private-sector power producer in the world, and the largest producer of clean energy in the U.S., with 55 gigawatts of capacity from nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind and solar facilities.

Its holdings in Pennsylvania include two sites in Montgomery County: Limerick Clean Energy Center in Limerick Twp., and Moser Generating Station in Lower Pottsgrove Twp.

Shares of Constellation Energy (NASDAQ: CEG) were trading at $290.25 at lunchtime Monday. That gives the company a market capitalization of $102 billion. 

The acquisition of the Bethlehem Energy Center and York Energy Center add to the Pennsylvania portfolio of LS Power, which was founded in 1990. According to its website, it also currently has holdings in New York, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas and California.

The company’s Pennsylvania sites include the Hunterstown natural gas-fired power plant in Gettysburg.

“PJM is at the epicenter of the surge in electricity demand, and these are exactly the kind of assets the grid needs – efficient, dispatchable gas generation that can deliver reliable power around the clock,” said Paul Segal, CEO of LS Power, in a news release.

“LS Power has been developing, building and operating gas-fired generation for over 35 years. We expect our extensive operational experience will enable seamless integration of the assets and their employees and look forward to engaging with plant staff and the local communities around the facilities.”