Carlyle Group said it plans to raise more than $7 billion in new capital for energy and power investments by 2015. On Monday at Carlyle’s first investor day since it went public last year, the Washington, D.C., firm said it had already started fundraising for two $1.5 billion vehicles: one for midmarket private equity energy transactions outside of North America and another for midmarket private equity power transactions in North America. Both funds target deals requiring roughly $150 million of equity. The firm also said it plans to raise a $4 billion midmarket North American energy investment fund, with the bulk of assets expected to be in exploration and production. Carlyle’s energy experts expect pressures on natural gas prices to ease in the next few years. Utilities across the country are decommissioning coal fired power plants and nuclear power plants in favor of natural gas plants, which will increase […]