Renewables developer Madison Energy Infrastructure has launched a 1GW distributed energy resource (DER) initiative in the US.
Called the Community Infrastructure initiative, the company aims to mobilise up to US$2 billion in capital to develop a gigawatt of capacity by 2028.
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The 1GW DER portfolio aims to meet the growing demand for power from artificial intelligence (AI), while creating and delivering lasting benefits for communities, according to the company.
The announcement builds on an ecosystem Madison has been building over the years, which combines institutional capital and national scale with local development, community engagement, utilities and market expertise to build over 600 projects across more than 30 US states.
“AI requires power at a speed and scale we’ve never seen before, and building that infrastructure successfully requires more than capacity,” said Richard Walsh, Chief Executive Officer of Madison Energy Infrastructure. “Community Infrastructure is about helping AI labs and hyperscalers show up for communities, not just in them. We’ve spent years cultivating the right relationships, development capabilities, and national ecosystem needed to turn that idea into local energy infrastructure at scale.”
The company added that even though utility-scale generation will remain essential to power this increased energy demand from data centres, it won’t be enough to address the surging demand or local concerns about rising electricity prices and resource constraints. According to Madison, distributed solar and energy storage infrastructure can complement these investments by bringing new capacity online faster, cheaper and closer to where the electricity is consumed.
Among the projects already underway are 50MW of standalone energy storage with not-for-profit utility CORE Electric Cooperative in Colorado; a 13MW/8.75MW solar-plus-storage project in development in Michigan; a 16MW solar PV project under construction with Denver International Airport; a 27MW offsite solar project nearing completion in Pennsylvania, or an ongoing partnership with data centre developer EdgeConneX.
Moreover, the Community Infrastructure initiative aims to double the company’s operational portfolio, with the company expected to surpass 1 GW of operational assets later this fall. It will also further expand the company’s distributed generation (DG) assets even further. Last year, Madison acquired the DG assets of NextEra Energy Resources. A portfolio that comprises solar PV and energy storage assets across 25 states.
A report from US-based electrification non-profit Rewiring America, published in September 2025, highlighted that DER, more particularly, residential solar and energy storage, could meet all the projected demand from US data centres over the next five years.
The forecasted increase in power demand from data centres will not necessarily be tied only to utility-scale generation, but also to DER such as Madison’s new initiative or residential solar and energy storage projects involving virtual power plants to power data centres.
