The NextEra Energy Takeover Will Boost Data Center Sprawl
There is a direct connection between Mountain Valley Pipeline's proposed MVP Boost compressor station in Elliston, Virginia, the $67 billion merger between NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy, and the wave of data centers being built across the Commonwealth.
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and cloud computing has created an unprecedented surge in power consumption. Data centers require massive amounts of continuous power generation and developers plan to meet that demand primarily with fracked methane gas.
NextEra, which owns a 33% stake in MVP, aims to cash in on that demand and hopes Virginians have forgotten about their role in the damage to our water and lands.
EQT Corporation, the largest investor in the Mountain Valley Pipeline, has told its own investors that MVP Boost exists in significant part to serve data center demand in Northern Virginia. The MVP Boost project proposes to expand compression at three existing compressor stations in West Virginia and build a new 136,900 horsepower compressor station in the Elliston-Lafayette community of Montgomery County, Virginia. The proposed Swann Compressor Station would be the largest horsepower compressor station on the East Coast.
Virginia DEQ stopped processing the air pollution permit for the Swann station on June 12, 2026. FERC released its Environmental Assessment on August 6, 2026, concluding the project would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment despite acknowledging the unresolved state air permit.
On May 18, 2026, Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy announced a plan to merge, creating the largest regulated utility in the United States valued at $420 billion. Similar to EQT, NextEra's CEO described the current moment as "America's golden age of power demand," driven explicitly by data centers. NextEra has made clear it intends to build the gas pipelines and power plants needed to feed that growth. If the merger is approved, the company making major decisions about how much data center development Virginia absorbs, and who pays for the infrastructure required to support it will be headquartered in Florida.
The connection between data center demand and residential utility bills is another concern. Grid capacity prices rose 833% between the 2024 and 2026 delivery years due to data center load growth. Dominion Energy projects the average monthly residential bill could rise from roughly $142 today to more than $315 by 2039, primarily driven by data center energy demand.
Data center demand is driving fracked gas pipeline expansion. That same demand is the primary driver behind NextEra's interest in acquiring Dominion and ultimately controlling Virginia's energy future.
Right now nationwide, and especially in Virginia, the people are organizing.
Join the Rally to Stop the NextEra and Data Center Takeover in Roanoke:
Thursday, September 24, 2026
5:30 PM 6:30 PM
Harrison Museum of African American Culture
2502 Melrose Avenue Northwest Roanoke, Virginia, 24017
Learn more and get involved at stopnextera.com.