NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy, Inc. is an American energy company that is the world's largest electric utility holding company by market capitalization, with a valuation of over $190 billion as of March 2026.[5] NextEra Energy had revenues of $24.8 billion and 16,700 employees throughout the US and Canada in 2024.[6][7] It has a current generating capacity of 73 gigawatts.[8] Its subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light (FPL), NextEra Energy Resources (NEER), XPLR Energy Partners, and NextEra Energy Services.

FPL, the largest of its subsidiaries, is the third largest electric utility company in the United States.[9] NEER, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from wind and solar.[10] In addition to wind and solar, NextEra Energy Resources owns and operates generating plants powered by natural gas, nuclear energy, and oil.[9] As of March 2025, approximately 36% of NextEra Energy's generating capacity was from fossil fuels and non-renewables, down from 41% in 2020. [7][8]

Corporate history

NextEra Energy traces its origins to 1925 with the formation of Florida Power & Light and the formation of FPL Group in 1984.[11][12]

The company purchased Colonial Penn in 1985[13] and sold it in 1991.[14] In 1998, FPL Group created FPL Energy, a subsidiary to manage FPL Group efforts outside of FPL's service area.[13] The same year, the company moved to acquire 37 power stations in Maine, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.[15] After a federal ruling would have limited the company's access to the New England power grid, FPL Group attempted to break off its purchase agreement in Maine,[16] but ultimately completed the purchase in March 1999.[17]

Through the early 2000s, FPL Group was the subject of multiple merger discussions, including with Iberdrola,[18][19] Entergy,[20] and Constellation Energy.[21]

In 2005, FPL Group acquired Gexa Energy.[13]

In 2007, Florida's Public Service Commission rejected a plan by NextEra Energy to build a coal-burning power plant on 5000 acre in Moore Haven, Florida, near the Everglades National Park. The National Park Service raised concerns that the coal plant would contaminate Lake Okeechobee with mercury and harm the Everglades.[22][23]

In 2008 the Environmental Protection Agency recognized FPL Group for achieving its goal to reduce its emissions by 21 percent per kilowatt hour.[24] The FPL Group Foundation, the company's philanthropic arm, donated $1 million to the Salvation Army in 2009 to help customers pay their power bills.[25] The following year, FPL Group rebranded as NextEra Energy. At the time, it provided electricity in 28 U.S. states and Canada.[13]

The 2010s saw additional merger and acquisition attempts by NEE, including with Hawaiian Electric Industries, Oncor Electric Delivery, SCANA, Santee Cooper, and Gulf Power Company.[26][27][28] Of these, only the Gulf Power acquisition was successful. The acquisition was completed in January 2019 and NEE merged Gulf Power with FPL in January 2022.[29][30] As part of the deal, NEE also acquired Plant Oleander and a 65 percent stake in the Stanton Energy Center natural gas power plants.[31]

In July 2013, NextEra Energy partnered with Spectra Energy in a $3 billion investment for the construction of a natural gas pipeline in Florida.[32]

NextEra Energy subsidiary New Hampshire Transmission (NHT) reached a $6.8 million settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in 2016 after charging customers for the development of an electric power transmission project that was not approved.[33][34] During the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, NextEra Energy donated $1 million to a super PAC supporting Jeb Bush's candidacy.[35]

In August 2016, NextEra Energy sold $1.5 billion in equity to Mizuho Securities, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs.[36]

In 2018, NextEra Energy and Entergy left the Nuclear Energy Institute.[37] In February of that year, it filed a lawsuit against the Institute alleging that the trade group had inappropriately cut off its access to a database of nuclear power workers. The lawsuit stated NEE disagreed with the Institute's priorities and that the trade group was advocating for policies that would be damaging to NextEra Energy's business; it also alleged the group was extorting NextEra Energy for $860,000 to regain access to the database. The Institute called the allegations "baseless".[38] A judge in Florida rejected NEE's claims in September 2018.[39]

In June 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rejected NextEra Energy's claim for a $97 million tax deduction for $200 million paid in contract fees to the federal government toward the Nuclear Waste Fund. NextEra Energy sought to deduct payments made between 2003 and 2010 for "the disposal of radioactive waste produced by nuclear power plants".[40]

In August 2018, NextEra Energy received a cease and desist order by Oklahoma state officials concerning the construction of wind turbines violating a state law intended to protect open air space. The law requires that developers obtain appropriate permitting from the Federal Aviation Administration or the United States Department of Defense. NextEra Energy had filed obstruction evaluation cases for the construction of wind turbines in Oklahoma with the FAA in March 2018, but the FAA had yet to issue determinations at the time that the cease and desist order was issued.[41] The construction of the wind farm was cancelled in May 2019.[42]

In 2022, NextEra paid $8 million for the deaths of over 150 eagles at wind farms missing eagle permits.[43]

In June 2024 the company sold $2 billion in equity to BofA Securities and Wells Fargo Securities.[44][45]

On December 8, 2025, NextEra announced it would expand its partnership with Google Cloud by developing approximately 15 gigawatts of new power generation capacity by 2035 to support several large-scale data center campuses in the United States.[46]

Criticism

External links