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NextEra Energy is known as a political force in its home state of Florida, whose tactics have sometimes brought it into conflict with regulators, residents, consumer groups and news organizations.<\/p>\n
Now, with the proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy, it wants to become the country’s largest utility and power company.<\/p>\n
NextEra’s sharp-elbowed approach in Florida has played out publicly in lawsuits and public documents. In 2023, a group of shareholders sued the company in federal court, claiming that its political activities put their investments at risk, causing a sharp decline in its stock price.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit says NextEra or its hired consultants may have violated election laws, spied on journalists and engaged in questionable tactics in an effort to take over the city-owned utility. And the lawsuit raised questions about whether power company officials were being honest about those efforts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
NextEra said it conducted two separate reviews of the claims that “concluded without a finding of unlawful conduct.” And it argued that shareholders failed to show that its executives’ statements “were made with the intent to deceive or cause any harm to shareholders.”<\/p>\n
The District Court dismissed the suit, but a federal appeals court reinstated it in November. Shareholders and the company have told the District Court that they expect to submit the settlement for court approval by June 15.<\/p>\n
Some utility experts said NextEra’s political activities are likely to come under scrutiny as the company seeks approval for its $66.8 billion purchase of Dominion.<\/p>\n
“I think there will be pushback,” said Eric Smith, associate director of the Tulane Energy Institute at Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business. “I don’t think the deal is going to fail, but certainly you’ll see some real questions about it.”<\/p>\n
NextEra, based in Juneau Beach, South Florida, has about six million utility customers in that state, and Dominion, based in Richmond, Virginia, has about four million in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The companies have said their deal will allow NextEra to better meet the growing need for power, which is partly driven by data centers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cDemand for electricity is growing faster than it has in decades,\u201d NextEra Chief Executive Officer John Ketchum said in a statement announcing the deal. \u201cWe are bringing NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy together because scale matters more than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to regulated utilities in four southeastern states, the combined company will have nuclear power plants, solar farms, wind energy projects, power lines and gas pipelines throughout the country.<\/p>\n
The deal requires approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and regulators in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The Justice Department’s antitrust division is also expected to review the acquisition. Regulators in Florida do not have the legal authority to review utility mergers.<\/p>\n
Neither NextEra nor Dominion responded to requests for comment for this article.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
NextEra has long run a broad and sophisticated political campaign. The company gave $1.9 million to federal campaigns in 2023 and 2024, more than any other investor-owned utility company, according to Open Secrets, a nonprofit that tracks money in politics. The company appears to have given roughly equal amounts to Republicans and Democrats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
This has also affected the Trump administration. NextEra was the only power company to donate to the construction of President Trump’s planned White House ballroom, according to a list of contributors released last fall by the White House.<\/p>\n
A NextEra executive was among those invited to a dinner at the White House in October for donors who gave $2.5 million or more to the ballroom project. The company also donated $1 million to Mr. Trump’s 2025 inaugural committee.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump\u2019s chief of staff Susie Wills, previously a lobbyist and political consultant, worked as an adviser to NextEra subsidiary Florida Power & Light in 2019 as it sought to acquire the Jacksonville Electric Authority, according to a Investigation<\/a> That $11 billion deal was negotiated by the Jacksonville City Council, which was not completed. According to the Council’s investigation, Ms. Wills was also working as a consultant for the Jacksonville Electric Authority at around the same time.<\/p>\n Steven Cheung, a White House spokesman, said that although Florida Power & Light once hired Ms. Wills as a communications consultant for a project, she had never represented NextEra and was “not trying to upstage this company.”<\/p>\n Mr. Cheung said, “Anyone who has worked with Susie Wills knows that she holds herself to the highest ethical standards.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n David Pomerantz, executive director of the Energy & Policy Institute, a nonprofit group that has long monitored and criticized NextEra, said its record should concern regulators and lawmakers in the states where Dominion operates.<\/p>\n “NextEra’s playbook and history in Florida should make Virginians and South Carolinians fearful of this merger,” he said. Mr. Pomerantz pointed to the 2023 shareholder lawsuit, whose plaintiffs included two Florida public pension funds \u2014 the City of Hollywood Police Officers Retirement System and the Pembroke Pines Firefighters and Police Officers Pension Fund.<\/p>\n That lawsuit claims that in the 2020 election cycle Florida Power & Light, a consulting firm hired by Matrix, funded little-known candidates to derail the re-election campaigns of Democratic legislators. The candidate backed by the consulting firm was not the power company’s preferred choice, but he was expected to snatch votes from the MPs. Its purpose was to improve the chances of candidates who favored easing state regulations on utilities.<\/p>\n Florida newspapers at the time reported on the effort, and some journalists said that the utility’s consultants had retaliated against them. newspapers, including miami herald<\/a> And Florida Times-Union<\/a>, received records<\/a> This indicates that consultants have, among other things, hired a private investigator<\/a> Following and photographing at least one journalist’s home and family vacations.<\/p>\n The investor lawsuit also cites reports that NextEra acted improperly when it tried to buy the Jacksonville Electric Authority.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n That takeover, which was opposed by city council members and many residents, fell apart and federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against some of the authority’s officials. Its chief executive was found guilty of conspiracy to embezzle municipal funds and wire fraud in connection with the sale of a municipal utility. it was sentenced to four years in prison<\/a>.<\/p>\n The lawsuit says investors were concerned by news reports that NextEra and some political consultants connected to Jacksonville officials had promised lucrative jobs to local elected officials if they supported the deal.<\/p>\n As part of its investigation, the City Council subpoenaed NextEra executives for records. Prosecutors did not bring any charges against the power company or its employees and consultants.<\/p>\n In January 2023, Wall Street began to worry about Florida Power & Light because News coverage<\/a>. That month, NextEra reported that its financial performance had fallen short of analysts’ expectations and that Eric Silagyi, its chief executive for more than 11 years, had been fired. was retiring<\/a>Which surprised investors. The company’s share price fell nearly 9 percent in five days.<\/p>\n The stock decline led to a shareholder lawsuit. NextEra has said it never broke any laws or misled investors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n