NextEra to buy Dominion in $66.8 billion power deal amid AI boom

Source Domain: www.nbcnews.com

NextEra Energy will buy Dominion Energy in an all-stock transaction valued at about $66.8 billion, creating the world’s largest regulated electric utility by market value, as U.S. utilities race to meet surging demand from data centers fueling the artificial intelligence boom.

Subscribe to read this story ad-free

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

The deal, one of the largest ‌in the U.S. power industry, adds to a wave of consolidation as the rapid data-center buildout lifts power demand for the first time in two decades, opening up a lucrative revenue stream and boosting profit prospects.

This year, AES Corp agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners and Swedish private-equity firm EQT AB for $33.4 billion. That followed Constellation Energy’s $16 billion deal for Calpine and Blackstone’s $11.5 ⁠billion deal for TXNM Energy last year.

NextEra is one of the world’s largest energy developers and access to Dominion’s portfolio would enable it to expand into the PJM Interconnection region and capitalize on opportunities in Virginia, one of the biggest data-center markets in the world.

The Florida-based company said it would exchange 0.8138 of its stock for each outstanding share of Dominion, valuing Dominion at $75.97 per share, a premium of about 23% to its last close, according to Reuters calculations.

Shares of NextEra fell 2% in premarket trading, while Dominion stock jumped 14.7%.As of March 31, Dominion had $44.11 billion in total long-term debt.

The transaction builds on NextEra’s efforts to tap into surging demand for ‌supplying ⁠electricity to data centers being developed by Big Tech. Last year, the utility had signed an agreement with Alphabet’s Google to reopen a nuclear power plant in Iowa.