NextEra Energy Chairman, President and CEO John Ketchum participated in a panel discussion at CERAWeek on March 10, 2025 in Houston, Texas, USA.
Kayley Greenlee | Reuters
NextEra Energy Chief Executive Officer John Ketchum told investors on Monday that the company plans to build 15 gigawatts of new power generation for data center hubs by 2035.
NextEra is the largest renewable energy developer in the United States through NextEra Energy Resources, which also owns Florida Power & Light. The company also operates nuclear and natural gas-fired plants.
Power companies also announce partnerships alphabet‘s Google unit on Monday developed a 3-gigawatt data center campus in the United States with plans to expand elsewhere.
NextEra stock closed down about 3% on Monday.
Based on average household electricity consumption in 2024, one gigawatt is roughly equivalent to more than 800,000 homes, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Ketchum said 15 gigawatts of power for the data center hub is a “pretty conservative” goal.
“Frankly, given today’s situation, I would be disappointed if we didn’t do more,” Ketchum said at NextEra’s investor conference. He said 30 gigawatts of new generation power generation could be built by 2035.
Ketchum said data center hubs use all forms of energy. In October, NextEra announced a deal with Google to restart the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant in Iowa through a power purchase agreement.
The data center hub will help NextEra meet its goal of building 4 to 8 gigawatts of new gas generation by 2032 and significantly more by 2035, Ketchum said. NextEra is developing a 20 gigawatt gas production pipeline.
Ketchum acknowledged that the huge power demand from AI data centers raises affordability concerns. He said the solution is for big tech companies to bring their own power generation equipment with them when they work to build data centers.
“Hyperscalers can solve this problem by bringing their own generation and infrastructure and paying for it,” he said.
