NEW YORK CITY, New York: NextEra Energy has agreed to acquire Dominion Energy in an all-stock deal valued at about US$66.8 billion, creating the world's largest regulated electric utility by market value as power companies race to meet soaring electricity demand from artificial intelligence data centers.

The transaction is one of the largest ever in the U.S. utility sector and reflects a growing wave of consolidation as data center expansion drives the strongest increase in electricity demand in two decades.

Under the agreement, NextEra will exchange 0.8138 of its shares for each Dominion share, valuing Dominion at $75.97 per share, a premium of about 23 percent to its previous closing price. As of March 31, Dominion had $44.11 billion in long-term debt.

The acquisition gives Florida-based NextEra a major foothold in the PJM Interconnection region, the largest U.S. power grid, spanning 13 states. It also expands the company's presence in Virginia, home to Northern Virginia's "Data Center Alley," the world's largest concentration of data centers.

Dominion has nearly 51 gigawatts of contracted data center capacity and serves major technology customers, including Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Equinix, CoreWeave, and CyrusOne. One gigawatt is enough to power roughly 750,000 homes.

NextEra Chief Executive Officer John Ketchum said the combination would allow the company to "buy, build, finance and operate more efficiently, which translates into more affordable electricity for our customers in the long run."

To win support for the deal, NextEra is offering $2.25 billion in bill credits to Dominion customers in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina over two years following the transaction's close.

NextEra currently provides electricity to more than 12 million consumers in Florida, while Dominion serves 3.6 million customers in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

The deal is expected to close within 12 to 18 months, subject to shareholder approval and reviews by federal and state regulators, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Upon completion, Ketchum will remain Chief Executive Officer of the combined company, which will continue to operate under the NextEra Energy name.