Bridgepoint’s Energy Capital Partners reiterates that ECP will be the majority owner of Gavin after the firm purchases it from Blackstone
June 6, 2025
Energy Capital Partners, a subsidiary of private equity firm Bridgepoint, is in the process of purchasing the General James M. Gavin coal-fired power plant in southeastern Ohio from Blackstone Capital Partners. The Gavin plant is among the deadliest coal-fired power plants in the U.S., according to 2023 analysis by the Sierra Club, which estimated that the Gavin coal plant was responsible for 244 premature deaths per year.
On June 3, 2025, attorneys for ECP and Lightstone Public Utilities reiterated to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that ECP will own the Gavin coal plant once the transaction is approved by the regulator:
“To be clear, after consummation of the Proposed Transaction, ECP will be the only entity that owns 10% or greater of the voting equity interests of all of the Lightstone Public Utilities, including Gavin, and no one else will have any board members or right to appoint board members, and there are no plans to change those facts.”
In a December 2024 letter to the Commission, ECP pledged to keep operating the coal plant indefinitely, stating it expects “that the Gavin facility (and the facilities owned by the other Lightstone Public Utilities) will continue to operate for so long as they are legally able to do so on an economic basis.”
All filings regarding the sale of Lightstone Utilities, including the Gavin coal plant, can be found on the FERC website under docket number EC24-125.
Any Bridgepoint or ECP investor should ask these firms for a commitment to retire the Gavin coal plant by 2028 before committing any additional investments.
