Deal Database Methodology

What counts as a tracked deal

We track publicly announced US clean energy transactions in four categories:

• M&A — acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, take-privates, and platform recapitalizations involving clean energy assets, developers, IPPs, or service businesses.
• Financing — project debt, construction loans, tax equity, term-loan-B financings, holdco facilities, and sponsor-equity raises tied to identifiable assets or platforms.
• PPA — power purchase agreements with corporate, utility, or community offtakers. Both physical and virtual PPAs qualify if the structure is disclosed.
• Tax Credit Transfers — transferable ITC and PTC sales under IRA Section 6418, where buyer, seller, or both are named.

A handful of transactions are tagged “Other” — large procurement awards, framework agreements, and regulatory milestones that don't fit cleanly into the four primary categories but are economically significant. These are excluded from lender and league-table aggregations to avoid double-counting.

Inclusion threshold

We have no hard MW or dollar minimum. The qualifying test is verifiability and relevance: the deal must be (1) publicly announced, (2) involve at least one named counterparty, (3) have a clear US nexus, and (4) sit within clean energy generation, storage, transmission, or directly enabling supply chain.

We deliberately don't exclude small deals — community solar financings and sub-50 MW projects often signal where capital is actually flowing before the megadeals arrive.

Sourcing

Every entry links to at least one primary source. In priority order:

1. SEC filings (8-K, S-1, 10-Q, 10-K)
2. Issuer press releases
3. Law-firm and advisor announcements
4. Trade publications with named editorial bylines
5. Reader tips — published only after independent confirmation against one of the above

When sources disagree on a material figure (MW, $ value, close date), we cross-reference at least two and side with the issuer or SEC filing. Discrepancies are noted in the deal's editorial note field.

Deal value & capacity

We display the figure as disclosed. If only enterprise value is reported, we use that; if only equity value, we use that and tag it. Deals close at “Undisclosed” when no figure is announced — we don't estimate.

Capacity (MW / MWh) is reported as named in the announcement. For portfolio deals spanning multiple projects, we sum the disclosed project sizes. If the announcement gives a portfolio aggregate without per-project breakouts, we use the aggregate.

Status taxonomy

• Announced — publicly disclosed; not yet closed.
• Closed — confirmed close per issuer or SEC filing. We update Announced entries to Closed as confirmation arrives.
• Rumored — reported by a credible publication but not confirmed by the parties. Used sparingly. Promoted to Announced on confirmation, removed if the deal is denied or doesn't materialize within ~90 days.

Service providers & finance counterparties

Where named in announcements, we capture sponsor counsel, lender counsel, tax counsel, M&A advisors, financial advisors, independent engineers, lead arrangers, administrative agents, tax equity providers, and tax credit buyers. These power the league tables — see the league-table methodology for inclusion rules.

Refresh cadence

New deals are added throughout the week as they're announced. The Monday newsletter cuts off at Sunday 11:59 PM ET; deals announced after that move into the following week's edition.

Corrections

We correct errors as soon as we're aware of them. If you see something off — wrong counterparty, missed advisor, miscategorized deal — email hello@dealflow.energy with the source link. Material corrections are noted in the next newsletter.