NextEra Agrees to Buy Dominion for $67 Billion

2026-05-18

NextEra Energy said on the 18th that it has agreed to acquire peer Dominion Energy for about $67 billion (about 10 trillion yen). As electricity demand surges with the spread of artificial intelligence (AI), the merger will prepare the company for large-scale investment.

The acquisition will be carried out as a stock swap and is expected to close within a year and a half after regulatory review.

One of the Biggest in Power History

Among acquisition deals by listed companies in 2026, it will be second only to the $110 billion purchase of U.S. Warner Bros. Discovery by media giant Paramount Skydance, announced in February. According to Reuters and others, it is said to be the largest acquisition in the power industry's history.

According to materials from both companies, NextEra has an enterprise value of $309 billion and Dominion $111 billion. The combined company will have an enterprise value of $420 billion, putting it close to oil giants ExxonMobil ($709 billion) and Chevron ($425 billion) in the U.S. power and energy sector.

It will create a giant company far larger than Duke Energy, the second-largest power utility, at $188 billion.

Investment Rises on AI Demand

Recently, power demand for data centers has been surging, driven by investment from major tech companies amid the spread of AI. According to the two companies, U.S. power demand increased by only 10% in total over the 15 years through 2020, but from 2020 to 2035 it is expected to grow at six times that pace.

The two companies will use greater scale to prepare for large investments. Annual capital expenditure after the merger will swell to $59 billion.

John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra, said, "Through efficient operations, we will provide consumers with affordable electricity."

In terms of generating capacity, NextEra has 80 gigawatts and Dominion 30 gigawatts. One gigawatt is equivalent to one large nuclear power plant. After the merger, they plan to expand to 225 to 260 gigawatts by 2032, more than double the current level.

Investment Scale Expands 30-Fold

The companies said that investment in power-generation facilities is becoming enormous as data center demand expands. Compared with renewable energy and storage projects that dominated over the past decade, the investment per project would reach $15 billion, or 30 times larger.

As part of Japan's $550 billion investment in the U.S., NextEra is expected to build 10-gigawatt-class gas-fired power plants in Pennsylvania in the eastern U.S. and Texas in the south. The investment size will be up to $17 billion and $16 billion, respectively.

In regional power businesses such as transmission, distribution, and generation, NextEra is headquartered in Florida in the southern U.S., while Dominion is based in three states: Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The merger will expand the business footprint to a total of four states.

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