NextEra’s $66.8 Billion Dominion Buyout Could Create a Power Giant Built for the AI Boom

Reuters, CNBC, the Washington Post, and Bloomberg contributed to this report.

NextEra Energy is moving to buy Dominion Energy in a huge all-stock deal worth about $66.8 billion, a move that could reshape the US power business just as demand from AI data centers is exploding.

The pitch is simple: America needs a lot more electricity, and fast. Data centers are sucking up more power by the day, and both companies want to be in the middle of that buildout. Dominion already serves the biggest data center hub in the world in northern Virginia. NextEra brings scale, deep pockets and a national footprint.

If the deal clears regulators, it would create the largest regulated electric utility in the world. The combined company would also become a major force across multiple parts of the energy market – renewables, battery storage, natural gas and nuclear power.

This is not a small bet. NextEra will swap 0.8138 of its own shares for each Dominion share, valuing Dominion at $75.97 a share, a premium of about 23% to its last close. The merged company would have an enterprise value of roughly $420 billion, with a market value around $249 billion.

Shares reacted fast. Dominion jumped, while NextEra fell as investors digested the size of the deal and the work still ahead.

NextEra chief John Ketchum said the logic is all about speed and scale. That matters because power demand is rising faster than it has in decades, and the companies say their combined network would help them move quicker on new infrastructure for data centers. Together, they say, they can serve around 130 gigawatts of potential electricity demand.

The regional prize is just as important as the national one. NextEra would gain access to Dominion’s territory and expand into PJM Interconnection, the largest US power grid operator, which covers 13 states. That opens the door to one of the most important power markets in the country.

The deal also fits a broader trend. US utilities are consolidating as Big Tech keeps building data centers for AI and the electricity bill keeps climbing. AES, Constellation Energy and TXNM Energy have all been part of major recent dealmaking too.

Regulators, though, are unlikely to let this move slide through unnoticed. The merger will face antitrust review and scrutiny from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and state regulators in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Recent power deals have already drawn tougher oversight.

Still, the message from NextEra is clear: this is about becoming the go-to utility partner for the AI era. And with data centers spreading fast, the company is betting that bigger really is better.