Why you should care about 2 power companies merging. Hint: affordability

Business Why you should care about 2 power companies merging. Hint: affordability May 18, 20266:00 PM ET By  Stephan Bisaha Utility giant NextEra Energy announced plans to acquire Dominion Energy on Monday. The merger comes as electricity demand and rates rises with the AI data center expansion. Marco Bello/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Marco Bello/Getty Images Stay up to date with our Up First newsletter sent every weekday morning. One of the largest electricity producers in the U.S. could grow even bigger if a proposed merger with another power company goes through. It comes at a time when energy demand is surging due to the AI boom and there are heightened worries about rising electricity prices. "Anytime there's a merger there's a worry consumers might face raising rates," said Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Technology Innovation. NextEra Energy said on Monday it plans to acquire Dominion Energy in a roughly $67 billion deal, The merger will require both federal and state approvals, including in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Those three states would be covered by the merged company, as well as Florida. Sponsor Message Planet Money What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill Overall, residential electricity rates have risen 7.4% in February compared to a year earlier and in some states the spikes are worse, according to the Energy Information Administration. Rates in Virginia grew 12.2%. Higher electricity prices have attracted the attention of politicians. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger promised during her campaign to lower electricity costs and signed a bill last week to make data centers responsible for electricity costs. NextEra sees lower prices for customers, advocates don't see it that way John Ketchum, NextEra Energy's CEO, said in a press release that the larger scale and efficiencies gained from merging would translate "into more affordable electricity for our customers i...