By Ian Salisbury
Florida utility NextEra Energy is said to be in talks to acquire northern neighbor, Virginia-based Dominion Energy, in a move that could add momentum to NextEra's efforts to capitalize on the data center energy boom.
The two utilities are currently in talks about a deal that could be announced as soon as next week, The Financial Times reported after the market closed on Friday. The deal, rumored to be mostly stock, could also still fall apart, the newspaper reported.
Efforts by Barron's to reach both companies for comment were unsuccessful Saturday morning.
Shares of Dominion and NextEra closed down about 2.4% and 2%, respectively, on Friday, amid a broad market sell off.
NextEra, with a market value of just under $195 billion, is one of the largest power producers in the U.S. It consists of a regulated utility that serves 6 million customers in Florida, and an unregulated unit that is focused on renewable energy, including solar and wind power.
While renewables have faced resistance under the Trump administration, the outlook has shifted, with Democrats looking likely to gain a majority of seats in the House of Representatives during November's midterm elections.
NextEra has also been able to capitalize on the boom in energy demand related to artificial intelligence, and recently signed a deal with Google to restart one of its nuclear plants located in Iowa.
A link-up with Dominion, which has a market capitalization of $54 billion, could help further NextEra's AI ambitions. The utility, which serves about 4 million customers in Virginia and the Carolinas, is almost entirely regulated, capping potential for profit growth from growing electricity demand -- but also limiting downside risk.
Nonetheless, Dominion's Virginia-focused service zone is a hot commodity -- and is home to the world's largest concentration of data centers, thanks to the location of fiber optic hook-ups and relatively inexpensive land. PJM, the nonprofit that oversees the region's electrical grid, recently forecast the area's peak summer electricity load could grow at more than 5% a year over the next decade.
NextEra is already the largest U.S. utility by market value, according to FactSet, and is worth nearly twice as much as the next largest utility, Southern Co., which has a market cap of around $104 billion. A combined NextEra-Dominion entity worth around $250 billion could loom over the sector. Any potential combination would still face regulatory approvals.
Write to Ian Salisbury at ian.salisbury@barrons.com
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May 16, 2026 12:27 ET (16:27 GMT)
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