NextEra to build 15 gigawatts of power for data centers by 2035

NextEra Energy plans to build 15 gigawatts of new power generation for data center hubs by 2035, CEO John Ketchum told investors on Monday.

NextEra is the largest renewable energy developer in the U.S. through NextEra Energy Resources, and also owns Florida Power & Light. The utility also operates a fleet of nuclear- and natural gas-powered plants.

NextEra also announced a partnership with Alphabet‘s Google unit on Monday to develop three gigawatt scale data center campuses in the U.S. with plans to expand to additional locations.

A gigawatt is roughly equivalent to more than 800,000 homes based on average household electricity consumption in 2024, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Ketchum said the 15 gigawatts of power for data center hubs is a “fairly conservative” target.

“Quite frankly, based on what we’re seeing today, we’ll be disappointed if we don’t do more,” Ketchum said at NextEra’s investor conference. There is potential upside to build 30 gigawatts of new generation by 2035, he said.

The data center hubs will use all forms of energy, Ketchum said. NextEra announced a deal with Google in October to restart the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa through a power purchase agreement.

The data center hubs will help NextEra meet its target of building four to eight gigawatts of new gas generation by 2032 and considerably more by 2035, Ketchum said. NextEra is developing a pipeline of 20 gigawats of gas generation.

Ketchum acknowledged that the huge power demand from AI data centers is raising affordability concerns. He said the solution is for the big tech companies to bring their own power generation with them when they commit to build a data center.

“Hyperscalers can solve that problem by bringing and paying for their own power generation and infrastructure,” the CEO said.