Florida Power & Light’s parent company, NextEra Energy, plans to acquire a Virginia utility company called Dominion Energy in a deal that would result in a massive utility juggernaut.
The companies announced the acquisition Monday in a joint news release, saying that they would be “the world’s largest regulated electric utility business” and provide power to about 10 million customers throughout Florida, Virginia and the Carolinas. Federal regulators must approve the deal.
The merger comes at a pivotal time for the utility industry, as demand for power is surging and many Americans are struggling to keep up with rising electricity bills. That’s particularly true in Florida, whose residents had their power shut off about 2 million times in 2024, the third-highest rate nationwide for disconnections due to unpaid bills.
Florida Power & Light is the state’s largest utility.
Monday’s news release said the merger will “drive affordability” because the new company’s large scale of operations will increase its efficiency.
Dominion Energy’s customers include the largest cluster of data centers in the world, often called Data Center Alley, in Virginia.
When asked if that fact could lead to higher bills for Florida Power & Light customers, the company said the merger wouldn’t change anything in Florida.
“Nothing about our operating accountability to the Florida Public Service Commission changes. FPL will continue operating as a separate regulated utility just like today,” spokesperson Andrew Sutton wrote in an email. “FPL customers won’t subsidize data centers in Florida much less data centers in Virginia.”
Earlier this month, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that sets guardrails on data centers built in the state, requiring them to cover their own electricity costs rather than residents footing the bill.
Much of the implementation of the bill is left up to utility regulators on the Florida Public Service Commission, leaving the specifics to be hammered out in under-the-radar Tallahassee commission meetings. Regulators also approved Florida Power & Light-specific regulations for data centers last year as part of a $7 billion rate hike.
Walt Trierweiler, the public counsel who was appointed by the Florida Legislature to represent utility customers, said that Floridians “no doubt” helped fund this acquisition through their bills, citing last year’s historically large rate case. Trierweiler’s office and other consumer groups are appealing the approval of that hike before the Florida Supreme Court.
“This is an abuse of the regulatory compact, which was designed to compensate a utility to cover the expenses of providing utility services and provide a reasonable return to investors,” Trierweiler wrote to the Tampa Bay Times in an email Monday.
“The argument that this acquisition somehow benefits Florida-based customers fails, as the majority of these dollars will flow out of state to support new NextEra footholds in Virginia and the Carolinas.”
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