AI Data Centers Are About to Break the Grid. One Company Just Spent $67 Billion to Fix It

NextEra Energy announced an all-stock agreement to acquire Dominion Energy for $67 billion, valuing Dominion at $76 per share with 0.8138 NextEra shares plus $360 million in cash. The combined company would serve about 10 million customer accounts across Florida, Virginia, and the Carolinas, with 110 gigawatts of generation and a 130 GW large-load pipeline. More than 80% of combined earnings would come from regulated utilities. Dominion’s position in Northern Virginia provides access to PJM Interconnection, supporting data center power needs as U.S. electricity demand rises. NextEra’s renewables and storage backlog totals about 33 GW, and it is selected to build 9.5 GW of gas-fired generation in Texas and Pennsylvania, strengthening capacity for data center hubs.

"NextEra Energy ( NYSE:NEE | NEE Price Prediction) announced on May 18, 2026 an all-stock agreement to acquire Dominion Energy ( NYSE:D) for $67 billion, a figure the press release frames as the largest energy deal since the 1998 Exxon-Mobil merger. The headline works out to $76 per Dominion share, paid as 0.8138 shares of NextEra Energy plus an aggregate $360 million cash payment, a 21% premium to Dominion's prior Friday close."

"What $67 billion actually buys is scale you cannot assemble organically. The combined entity would serve roughly 10 million customer accounts across Florida, Virginia, and the Carolinas with 110 gigawatts of generation and a 130 GW large-load pipeline, with over 80% of combined earnings from regulated utilities."

"Chips get the headlines, but the binding constraint on AI buildouts is power, and Dominion sits on top of Northern Virginia's data center alley with PJM Interconnection access that NextEra cannot replicate from Juno Beach. U.S. electricity consumption is projected to hit all-time highs in 2026 and 2027, and Dominion expects peak demand to double by the late 2030s on data center load alone."

"This is why the deal matters strategically. NextEra's Q1 2026 record renewables and storage origination added 4 GW to backlog, including 1.3 GW of battery storage, bringing the total backlog to roughly 33 GW. The U.S. Department of Commerce also selected NextEra Energy Resources to build 9.5 GW of new gas-fired generation in Texas and Pennsylvania under the U.S.-Japan trade deal. Layer Dominion's PJM footprint on top and the company is positioned to serve over 30 active data center hubs, with a year-end goal closer to 40."

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