FERC approves crypto miner MARA's acquisition of the Long Ridge natural gas power plant.

According to a post by Matthew Sigel, Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings’ (MARA) acquisition of Long Ridge natural gas power assets (Case No. EC26-92). Sigel noted that objections raised by the Market Monitoring Unit (IMM) related to BlackRock and Vanguard were rejected, and FERC also refused to condition the approval on keeping the power plant’s output in the PJM grid. Per his breakdown, the deal’s enterprise value is approximately $1.512 billion, corresponding to ~0.5 GW of natural gas generation capacity (485 MW approved output, 505 MW nameplate capacity) and ~$144 million in annual adjusted EBITDA, translating to a valuation of around 10.5x. Recent PJM gas power plant transactions are valued at roughly 7x, putting the core plant assets at ~$1 billion; MARA’s ~$500 million overpayment covers land, gas wells, rail assets, and expansion options. MARA will retain approximately $900 million in Long Ridge’s debt, and needs ~$610 million in cash, which it plans to cover with a ~$600 million Bitcoin-backed loan drawn in August. The deal’s external deadline is November 30. Sigel pointed out that MARA has referenced a total AI load of ~600 MW at the site, including ~200 MW of existing grid-connected load. It remains unclear whether the expansion will proceed via a Starwood joint venture and whether MARA can retain up to a 50% stake. The next key catalyst is likely the signing of a lease around the deal’s closing.