NextEra, Dominion announce merger to create U.S. power behemoth

U.S. power giants NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy announced plans Monday to merge in the largest electricity deal — by far — since the mainstreaming of AI. Why it matters: The deal, if approved by regulators, would enable massive scale as the industry looks to expand generation and related infrastructure to meet rising demand. The all-stock merger "creates the world's largest regulated electric utility business by market capitalization and one of the world's largest energy infrastructure companies," the companies said in a joint announcement. The potential merger would expand NextEra's presence in the fast-growing PJM grid region of the Midwest and mid-Atlantic. Stunning stats: The combined company would serve about 10 million utility customer accounts across Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, and own 110 gigawatts of generation from a wide array of energy sources, the announcement states. It would be the world's largest player in renewables and battery storage, and would lead the U.S. in total power generation, the companies said. That means it would be the largest company in natural gas-fired power, and No. 2 in nuclear. Driving the news: NextEra — which has a market capitalization of $195 billion — owns the utility Florida Power & Light, and has renewables, battery, gas and other projects nationwide . Richmond-based utility Dominion serves what's currently the largest data center market — Virginia — and operates in several other states. Its current market cap is $54 billion. The big picture: The deal lands amid U.S. electricity demand that's rising thanks to AI, re-shoring of manufacturing and the growth of electric cars, among other reasons. Power prices are also rising in many areas, putting pressure on utilities and regulators to enact new consumer protections. The companies said customers would benefit from increased scale and efficiency. They're also proposing to provide $2.25 billion in electric bil...

Original source: Axios