Key keywords: NextEra Energy, Dominion Energy, AI data center power supply, US utility sector merger, renewable energy for AI, data center infrastructure, clean energy transition, AI computing power demand NextEra Energy, the world’s largest operator of wind and solar energy assets, announced a definitive all-stock agreement to acquire Dominion Energy on Tuesday, a deal valued at approximately $33 billion in equity, with a total enterprise value of $55 billion including assumed debt. The merger brings together two of the most critical players in the fast-growing market for powering artificial intelligence data centers, as global tech giants race to secure reliable, low-carbon energy to run power-hungry GPU clusters that support large language models and generative AI tools. Dominion Energy, a regulated utility serving 7 million customers across 16 U.S. states, holds a dominant position in northern Virginia, the world’s largest concentrated data center market that hosts more than 30% of all U.S. data center capacity. Over the past three years, power demand from AI data centers in Dominion’s service territory has grown at an annual rate of 27%, far outpacing growth from residential and commercial customers, as firms including OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and Amazon Web Services have rushed to build new facilities to support AI workloads that consume 3 to 5 times more power per square foot than traditional cloud data centers. NextEra brings unmatched scale in renewable energy generation and long-duration energy storage to the partnership, with more than 70 gigawatts of operating clean energy capacity across the U.S. The combined entity will be able to deliver end-to-end power solutions for AI data center clients, from building new wind, solar and battery storage projects to upgrading transmission and distribution networks to connect facilities, cutting the average lead time for new power connections from 3 years to 18 months, according to statements from company executives. The two firms estimate they will invest more than $210 billion in AI-related energy infrastructure over the next five years, adding 52 gigawatts of new clean energy capacity enough to power 120 large-scale AI data centers. The deal is subject to approval from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, state utility regulators in Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina, and shareholders of both companies, with closing expected by the end of 2025. Industry analysts note the merger is the largest U.S. utility acquisition in a decade, and marks a turning point for the energy sector as AI power demand becomes the primary driver of infrastructure investment and consolidation.