Last week was huge with all the accelerated project approvals in the US. NEXTERA GETS PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL FOR 10 GW GAS BUILDOUT NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) —

Last week was huge with all the accelerated project approvals in the US. NEXTERA GETS PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL FOR 10 GW GAS BUILDOUT NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) — the largest energy infrastructure builder in North America — just received White House approval to develop up to 10 GW of new natural gas generation in Texas and Pennsylvania. The move is tied to Japan's $550B US investment commitment under the new US-Japan trade deal. Projects are structured to serve data centers and advanced manufacturing without passing costs to residential ratepayers. ALPHABET / GOOGLE ACQUIRES INTERSECT POWER FOR $4.75B Google's parent company is acquiring Intersect Power — an energy infrastructure developer — for $4.75B cash plus assumed debt. The deal includes multiple GW of energy and data center projects in development or under construction, including a first-ever co-located data center + power generation site in Haskell County, Texas. Simultaneously, Google partnered with Arizona utility Salt River Project (SRP) and storage startup ESS Inc on "Project New Horizon" — a 5MW / 50MWh long-duration iron flow battery pilot. The full-stack energy playbook: generation → storage → load. All in-house. THE M&A WAVE: $141.9B IN 2025 AND STILL BUILDING Key moves: → Constellation Energy acquired Calpine for $29B → Now the largest US wholesale power provider → NRG Energy acquired LS Power assets for $12.5B → American Water Works acquired Essential Utilities for $20.1B → KKR + CPPIB deployed $19.5B into Sempra Infrastructure Partners → Vistra acquired Cogentrix (January 2026) → Talen Energy signed a $3.45B deal to add 2.6 GW of gas capacity The thesis is consistent: dispatchable generation + scale + data center proximity = premium multiple. Gas M&A valuations have doubled since 2024. NUCLEAR IS BACK — AND IT'S THE BIPARTISAN DARLING NextEra is advancing the restart of the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa (601 MW, offline since 2020) backed by a 25-year PPA with Google. Target: online by early 2029. Nuclear + AI data centers is the most bipartisan energy story in decades. THE BIG PICTURE: → Hyper-scalers: Vertical integration in energy is now a competitive necessity — not just an ESG checkbox. → IPPs & Developers: The window to sell dispatchable assets at peak multiples is open. Gas M&A valuations doubled. Solar consolidation is next. → Grid Operators: Interconnection queue pressure is critical. Even approved 10 GW projects will face transmission bottlenecks. → Policy: The deregulation + fossil fuel expansion agenda is accelerating gas buildout. The fundamental shift? Energy is becoming a strategic asset — not just an input cost. Companies that control generation, storage, and load will define the AI era. 👇 Drop a comment. ♻️ Repost to share with your network. #EnergyTransition #PowerMarkets #DataCenters #AIInfrastructure #NextEra #GoogleEnergy #Nuclear #UtilitiesNews #EnergyMA #GridModernization #Infrastructure #Hyperscalers #SMR