US energy company NextEra Energy announced that it will acquire its rival Dominion Energy in a deal worth $66.8 billion.
The acquisition, which took place at a time when companies are competing for shares to meet the electricity demand caused by data centers used in artificial intelligence activities, will create the largest electricity distribution company in the USA.
This agreement, which is likely to be one of the largest acquisitions in the history of the US energy sector, shows that the wave of consolidation in the sector continues.
Florida-based NextEra’s access to Dominion Energy’s portfolio will enable it to expand into the PJM Interconnection region and capitalize on opportunities in Virginia, one of the world’s largest data center markets.
Serving the region that includes the “Data Center Valley” in Northern Virginia, Dominion Energy’s customers include Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Equinix, CoreWeave and CyrusOne.
NextEra stated that it will give 0.8 NextEra shares for each Dominion share and that NextEra shareholders’ share of the new company will be 74.5 percent.
