John Ketchum will serve as chairman and CEO of the combined company
NextEra Energy is combining with listed competitor Dominion Energy to create the world’s largest regulated electric utility business by market capitalisation, in a move driven by a strategy to achieve the scale necessary to optimise financing, construction and purchasing costs.
NextEra Energy has proposed the all-stock transaction, offering Dominion Energy shareholders an exchange ratio that would result in a 74.5%/25.5% ownership split between NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy shareholders in the combined company.
The combined company will operate under the NextEra Energy name and continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
US electric power and energy infrastructure firm NextEra has a market capitalisation of $194.69bn (€167,18bn) compared to Dominion Energy’s $54.29bn.
As part of the proposed deal, John Ketchum will serve as chairman and CEO of the combined company, and Robert Blue will serve as president and CEO of regulated utilities and as a member of the board of directors.
Edward Baine will be president and CEO of Dominion Energy Virginia, Keller Kissam will be president and CEO of Dominion Energy South Carolina and Scott Bores will be president and CEO of Florida Power & Light Company.
Ketchum said: “This is a historic moment for our two companies and for the states we are privileged to serve. Electricity demand is rising faster than it has in decades. Projects are getting larger and more complex. Customers need affordable and reliable power now, not years from now.
“We are bringing NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy together because scale matters more than ever— not for the sake of size, but because scale translates into capital and operating efficiencies. It enables us to buy, build, finance and operate more efficiently, which translates into more affordable electricity for our customers in the long run.”
Blue said: “This combination brings together two strong operating platforms and creates an even stronger energy partner for Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida, with the scale and balance sheet to deliver the generation, transmission and grid investments our customers and economies need.
“Most importantly, this combination is built around our customers. The bill credits we are committing to, the continued investments in generation, reliability and storm resiliency and our commitments to retain our team and dual headquarters in Juno Beach and Richmond, as well as Dominion Energy South Carolina’s existing operational headquarters in Cayce, reflect the values that have always defined Dominion Energy.”
NextEra Energy is a Florida-based electric power and energy infrastructure provider. The company operates regulated utility provider Florida Power & Light Company and NextEra Energy Resources, a US energy infrastructure development business.
Dominion Energy is a Virginia-based utility provider that supplies regulated electricity to customers across Virginia and the Carolinas, as well as regulated natural gas in South Carolina. Its operations also encompass regulated offshore wind, solar infrastructure and carbon-free power generation in New England.
Upon completion, the combined entity would hold the top global position in renewables and battery storage capacity, the companies said.
Within the US, the group would rank first in total power generation, new generation capacity, annual capital expenditure, rate base, market capitalisation and gas generation, while ranking second in nuclear generation.
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