The power industry has been contending with a tight supply of natural gas turbines amid the artificial intelligence data centre boom, but the chief executive of Edmonton-based utility Capital Power Corp. sees some early signs the shortage might be easing.
“Speed to power depends on equipment, and turbine supply has been one of the industry’s biggest constraints,” Avik Dey told analysts on a conference call to discuss the company’s third-quarter results.
“That’s starting to shift. Recently, we’ve seen more credible listings of complete or unused turbine packages, though asking prices remain high.”
Dey cautioned that it’s too early to say whether this will be a sustainable trend.
“But these early signs give us confidence that we can secure the equipment we need to deliver development growth in line with or better than our stated return target.”
Capital Power is aiming to grow its adjusted funds flow per share by eight to 10 per cent by 2030 and to increase total shareholder returns by 13 to 15 per cent.
An April report from consulting firm Wood Mackenzie predicted turbine prices would increase 195 per cent by the end of 2027 from 2019 levels. It said global orders sat at 110 gigawatts at the end of 2025, outpacing global manufacturing capacity of 60 to 70 gigawatts.
Several U.S. jurisdictions have paused the development of data centres — the enormous and power-hungry facilities that house the computing hardware for artificial intelligence and other Big Tech applications. Community concerns range from pollution to water use to utility bills.
That means turbines that had been spoken for are coming available sooner, Dey said.
“If we needed turbines on a specific project, we’re seeing a better ability to capture them. And it’s really about trading slots near-term in exchange for longer term, and working with counterparties or even the parties that actually own those turbines directly,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s anything structural in the market happening that’s saying the supply chain is catching up or competing projects are falling away.”
Meanwhile, Dey told analysts that Capital Power will be looking at ways to upgrade and expand existing sites as it pursues growth, lessening its dependence on mergers and acquisitions.
“It’s just going to be a more refined focus on M&A, rather than looking at everything in the market,” Dey said.
“It’s going to be back to basics for us on trying to find and identify those plants that we think we can really add value, for ourselves and for our customers.”
Earlier Monday, Capital Power reported third-quarter net income attributable to shareholders of $67 million, down from $154 million during the same period a year earlier.
The profit amounted to 37 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with 94 cents per diluted share during the third quarter of 2025.
Adjusted funds from operations — how Capital Power gauges its ability to fund growth, debt repayment and dividends — dipped to $306 million from $369 million.
Capital Power attributed the drop in part to maintenance spending at some of its plants, as well as finance and tax expenses.
Revenue and other income fell to $831 million from $1.21 billion in the same quarter last year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2026.
Companies in this story: (TSX:CPX)
