A method and apparatus is provided to reduce the spreading inductance and increase the distributed capacitance of power planes within the power distribution system of a semiconductor package substrate. In one embodiment, pre-fabricated copper-clad laminate (CCL) structures are utilized as starting material for the power plane pairs, which are then integrated into a package substrate using imaging, lamination, and drilling/plating processes. In alternate embodiments, a starting material having a larger insulating layer thickness may be used to form the CCL structure, whereby a pair of metallic planes having a perforated mesh pattern are adjoined through a dielectric layer to create an effective separation distance between the metallic planes. Alternate embodiments employ plating or deposition methods to obtain a minimum separation distance between the metallic planes of a power plane pair.