US senator asks regulator to reject giant NextEra-Dominion power deal, filing

Dominion Energy

29/06/2026 22:49

    By Laila Kearney
    NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Angus King is
urging the country's top energy regulator to reject NextEra
Energy's  NEE.N  proposed $66.8 billion acquisition of Dominion
Energy  D.N , saying the deal would consolidate too much power
in the hands of one company, a filing on Monday showed.
    The country has seen a spate of giant power mergers in
recent years with the rise of electricity demand after a roughly
two-decade-long lull, driven by the expansion of
energy-intensive data centers and the electrification of
industries like transportation.
Last month, NextEra announced its plan to buy Dominion to create
the world's largest regulated electric utility, in what would be
one of the all-time biggest mergers of its kind. Virginia-based
Dominion serves the largest concentration of data centers
globally.
    In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
King, from Maine, said the massive utility formed by the
consolidation would deter competition in a territory that would
affect more than 10 million people.
    "A single firm with that mix of merchant generation,
regulated generation, transmission, and load-pocket exposure has
powerful incentives and tools to shape regional markets in its
favor," King said, citing the 110 gigawatts of
electric-generating capacity between the two companies, the most
natural gas-fired power and second-largest nuclear operations in
the country.
    King said NextEra has already stymied clean energy power
competition through lobbying efforts in New England. He cited
other business conduct concerns by the company that he said
could ultimately raise prices for consumers.
    NextEra was not immediately available for comment.
     

(Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Liz Hampton
and David Gaffen)
((laila.kearney@thomsonreuters.com))