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Date
Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 9 a.m. ET
Call participants
- Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer — John W. Ketchum
- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer — Michael H. Dunne
- Executive — Armando Pimentel
- Executive — Scott Borys
- Executive — Brian W. Bolster
- Executive — Mark Hickson
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Takeaways
- Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) -- Increased by 10% year over year, reflecting portfolio-wide operational and financial gains.
- FPL retail customer growth -- Nearly 100,000 new customers added during the last 12 months.
- FPL retail sales growth -- Reported 3.4% growth year over year; weather-normalized retail sales rose approximately 0.3% year over year.
- FPL capital expenditures -- $3.2 billion spent in the quarter, with full-year 2026 guidance at $12 billion to $13 billion.
- Return on equity (FPL) -- Reported at approximately 11.7% for regulatory purposes over the previous twelve months.
- Energy Resources adjusted earnings -- Grew by approximately 14% year over year, supported by new investments and transmission gains.
- Backlog additions (renewables & storage) -- Energy Resources added 4 GW in new long-term contracted projects this quarter, including 1.3 GW of battery storage.
- Total renewables & storage backlog -- Now stands at approximately 33 GW after accounting for 0.3 GW placed into service.
- Large-load interest at FPL -- About 21 GW of current interest; in advanced discussions on 12 GW, with capacity planned to serve starting in 2028.
- Duane Arnold acquisition progress -- Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved license transfer, clearing the way for NextEra Energy to finalize 30% minority stake acquisition.
- Contract repricing -- "The pricing on the new contracts is roughly a $20 per megawatt-hour on average increase relative to the prior realized pricing," according to Dunne.
- Rate stabilization mechanism utilization (FPL) -- $306 million used in the quarter, with an after-tax balance of $1.2 billion remaining.
- Dividend growth targets -- Company expects to grow dividends per share about 10% per year through 2026, then 6% annually from 2026 through 2028.
- Capital investment outlook (FPL) -- Expects $90 billion to $100 billion in capital expenditure through 2032, primarily to support Florida's economic growth.
- Texas transmission investment -- Lone Star Transmission received ERCOT approval for projects totaling approximately $300 million, increasing Lone Star's rate base by about 40%.
- National data center hub strategy -- U.S. Department of Commerce selected a NextEra Energy subsidiary to develop 9.5 GW of new gas-fired generation supporting Japan-U.S. investment commitments.
- O&M efficiency -- FPL's non-fuel operating and maintenance costs are more than 71% below industry average, and it is "50% more cost efficient than the second-best utility" in the United States, per Ketchum.
- Revenue mix (Energy Resources backlog) -- 30% of new project backlog additions driven by hyperscalers, with the remainder from utility, cooperative, and municipality customers.
- EPS and cash flow guidance -- Company expects to grow adjusted EPS at an 8%+ compound annual growth rate through 2032, with operating cash flow growth meeting or exceeding that pace from 2025 to 2032.
- Secured supply chain -- Solar panels secured through 2029, batteries through 2029, domestic wind components through 2027, and sufficient transformer capacity through decade-end.
- Energy Resources gas transmission growth target -- Business projected to grow to $20 billion of total regulated and investment capital by 2032, representing a 20% compounded annual growth rate off the 2025 base.
- Capital-light Japan-U.S. project economics -- "First, to confirm, this is a capital-light investment—essentially zero capital for us. From a returns perspective, it is essentially infinite. We are putting no capital down, and we would potentially receive fee streams for a long period of time. Importantly, to capture that, our incentives are 100% aligned with the U.S. government and with Japan because we will need to perform in order to receive those payments. They also continue through the duration of the assets, so they are not just development or construction payments, but also ongoing O&M payments. As you look at what those fees can be and what that value can be to NextEra Energy, we would like to take the time to make certain that we have the contracts in place before sizing it. We are making this time investment and working through these because they can be value accretive to our shareholders," per Dunne.
Summary
NextEra Energy (NEE +6.74%) reported higher adjusted earnings per share, bolstered by ongoing strength at both FPL and Energy Resources. Substantial customer additions and retail sales growth at FPL highlight robust underlying demand in Florida, while significant capital investments continue to drive regulatory earnings and future grid readiness. The company expanded its long-term renewables and storage backlog, deepened large-load advanced discussions, and further established a capital-light business model with U.S.-Japan gas-fired project development. New nuclear licensing and contract repricing progress, combined with efficiency improvements and secure supply chains, reinforce expectations of strong execution in 2026 and beyond.
- Management emphasized the importance of grid reliability and affordability, leveraging both regulated and contracted businesses to balance risk and opportunity.
- The data center hub strategy is fueling new energy infrastructure origination across multiple channels, with management outlining up to 40 hubs targeted by year-end and a base case goal of 15 GW of new generation for large-load customers by 2035.
- AI-driven “Rewire” and Google Cloud partnership initiatives are focused on unlocking operational savings and digital transformation for both internal operations and potential commercialization to industry peers.
- Labor and permitting constraints are acknowledged as the primary bottlenecks for new gas buildouts, whereas renewables and storage see fewer impediments to rapid deployment.
- Expanded ownership and operational control over strategic assets, such as Duane Arnold nuclear plant, and exploration of small modular reactor (SMR) opportunities, position NextEra Energy for further portfolio diversification.
Industry glossary
- Hyperscalers: Large-scale cloud and data center operators with significant, rapidly growing power requirements, often driving demand for bespoke energy infrastructure solutions.
- SMR (Small Modular Reactor): Next-generation, factory-fabricated nuclear power plants designed for scalability and deployment flexibility at lower capacities than traditional reactors.
- BYOG (Bring Your Own Generation): A commercial model in which large-load customers fund or own energy infrastructure dedicated to their consumption, insulating existing retail customers from new project costs.
- Rate stabilization mechanism: A utility regulatory tool permitting the use of pre-collected amounts to smooth customer rates or support earnings through periods of investment or volatility.
- Safe harbor position: Pre-positioning of equipment or contracts ahead of regulatory or policy changes, typically to secure eligibility for federal incentives or compliance with future market requirements.
Full Conference Call Transcript
John W. Ketchum, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of NextEra Energy, Inc.; Michael H. Dunne, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of NextEra Energy, Inc.; Armando Pimentel; Scott Borys; Brian W. Bolster; and Mark Hickson. John will start with opening remarks and then Michael will provide an overview of our results. Our executive team will then be available to answer your questions. We will be making forward-looking statements during this call based on current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to risks and uncertainties.
Actual results could differ materially from our forward-looking statements if any of our key assumptions are incorrect or because of other factors discussed in today's earnings news release, the comments made during this conference call, and the Risk Factors section of the company presentation or in our latest reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, each of which can be found on our website, nexteraenergy.com. We do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements. Today's presentation also includes references to non-GAAP financial measures. You should refer to the information contained in the slides accompanying today's presentation for definitional information and reconciliations of historical non-GAAP measures to the closest GAAP financial measure.
With that, I will turn the call over to John.
John W. Ketchum: Thanks, Mark, and good morning, everyone. NextEra Energy, Inc. is off to a terrific start to the year, delivering strong first quarter results. Adjusted earnings per share increased by 10% year over year, reflecting strong financial and operational performance at both FPL and Energy Resources. Over the past several months, I have been working closely with our customers, policymakers, and stakeholders. Two things could not be clearer to me. First, demand for electricity in this country is not slowing down. In fact, it is accelerating. Our customers need power now and speed to power is essential. Second, building new power infrastructure must be done in a way that addresses affordability challenges and keeps bills low for existing customers.
NextEra Energy, Inc. is doing both. We are able to meet this increased power demand while keeping power prices low. We are doing it by leveraging our common platform. We build all forms of energy infrastructure. We have experience across the entire energy value chain at massive scale with a balance sheet to back it up. We continuously drive operational efficiency across our portfolio to deliver value and affordability to customers. At FPL, our value proposition is clear: leverage a diverse generation mix and a resilient grid to provide low-cost, highly reliable electricity to our customers every single day.
At Energy Resources, customers choose us because they know we have an unmatched, decades-long track record of building energy infrastructure that delivers cost-effective solutions tailored to their needs. NextEra Energy, Inc. was built for this moment of extraordinary growth. With a service area that spans 49 states and with more than 12 ways to grow, I could not be more excited about our ability to deliver for our customers, our shareholders, and our country. Importantly, our forecasted growth is visible and balanced between our regulated and long-term contracted businesses. Florida is a prime example of how we reliably serve growth while keeping bills low.
The Sunshine State has been one of the fastest growing states for decades and continues its rapid expansion today. Florida is already a $1.8 trillion economy, the fifteenth largest in the world, and the growth is not slowing down. Florida's GDP is forecast to grow 4.7% annually through 2040. In fact, in the first quarter, FPL added nearly 100 thousand customers compared to the prior-year comparable period. For perspective, roughly 90% of utilities nationwide serve fewer customers than that in total. FPL added these customers to our system in just the last 12 months. FPL supports this growth by building the right new power generation and the right new transmission infrastructure across the state.
In fact, FPL expects to invest between $90 billion and $100 billion through 2032, primarily to support Florida's growing economy. Earlier this month, FPL filed its annual Ten-Year Site Plan detailing its approach to reliably and cost effectively meet the growing need for electricity in Florida. The plan shows 4 gigawatts of new gas-fired generation complementing over 12 gigawatts of solar and over 7 gigawatts of storage solutions over the next ten years, which would further diversify FPL's generation fleet. Yet even with significant capital investment, bills have actually gone down over time. When you adjust for inflation, the typical FPL residential customer bill is 20% lower today than it was 20 years ago.
In nominal terms, FPL's bills are approximately 30% below the national average and only projected to grow on average about 2% annually through the end of the decade. On top of that, FPL delivers customers top-decile reliability that is approximately 68% better than the national average. Low bills and high reliability do not happen by accident. Instead, this performance is a direct result of smart, disciplined capital investments coupled with a relentless focus on operating efficiently. This is a value proposition that not only best serves our existing customers, but also works really well for new large-load customers like hyperscalers who value reliability, cost, and speed to market—things we can deliver.
As part of FPL's approved four-year rate settlement agreement that went into effect in January, we proactively developed a large-load tariff to provide the necessary certainty for both customers and regulators, balancing consumer protections with a competitive rate. Again, things are possible with the right structure and a smart approach. FPL's speed-to-market advantages combined with its best-in-class service is creating significant large-load interest. So far, we have about 21 gigawatts of large-load interest at FPL. Of that, we are in advanced discussions on about 12 gigawatts, a portion of which we believe we could begin serving as soon as 2028.
We are making good progress on this front and we continue to expect at least one large-load customer to sign up for capacity under FPL's tariff by the end of the year. Initially, we expect every gigawatt of large load under FPL's approved tariff to be equivalent to roughly $2 billion of CapEx and to earn the same return on equity as other FPL investments. Energy Resources continues to grow its regulated electric and gas transmission portfolio. It cannot be stressed enough: linear infrastructure is absolutely vital to meeting America's electricity demand. Pipelines fuel power plants and transmission lines deliver electricity into communities. NextEra Energy Transmission is one of the leading independent electric transmission companies.
Our scale and experience position us well as we win new transmission opportunities across America. In fact, just this week, one of NextEra Energy, Inc.'s subsidiaries, Lone Star Transmission, received ERCOT approval to build portions of two new transmission lines in North Central Texas to improve reliability in the region. Lone Star's investment share of approximately $300 million represents a roughly 40% increase in Lone Star's rate base. NextEra Energy Transmission has now secured more than $5 billion in new projects since 2023. In total, NextEra Energy Transmission has regulated and secured capital of $8 billion, almost twice the rate base size of Gulf Power when we bought the company in 2019.
We also continue to execute against our plan to grow our gas transmission business. Energy Resources now has ownership interest in more than 1 thousand miles of FERC-regulated pipelines. Importantly, it is a portfolio with a number of organic expansion opportunities. All told, we expect our combined electric and gas transmission business at Energy Resources to grow to $20 billion of total regulated and investment capital by 2032, a 20% compounded annual growth rate off a 2025 base. We recently added new senior leadership to our pipeline business to focus on growth opportunities, demonstrating our commitment to expanding our gas transmission business.
Turning to Energy Resources' long-term contracted business, our customers need a lot of power and they need it now. Renewables and storage continue to be the way to get new electrons on the grid until additional gas-fired generation can be built. This is why we had a record quarter at Energy Resources, adding to backlog 4 gigawatts of new long-term contracted renewables and storage projects. This includes another strong quarter of battery storage at 1.3 gigawatts. Importantly, we have four growth avenues for battery storage. We build standalone battery storage, co-locate storage at existing sites, develop storage as a grid solution, and expand batteries from 4 hours to 8 hours at existing storage projects.
Our standalone and co-located battery storage pipeline sits at over 110 gigawatts excluding expansion opportunities. Bottom line, in a market driven by a significant need for quick capacity solutions, Energy Resources remains well positioned to serve customers with battery storage. We are also off to a terrific start executing against our data center hub strategy, which is built on the power of scale. Scale shortens development pipelines, reduces execution risk, and keeps costs low as we build the infrastructure needed to meet data center power demand. To this end, last month, the U.S. Department of Commerce selected Energy Resources to build 9.5 gigawatts of new gas-fired generation to serve large loads.
The projects are in connection with Japan's $550 billion investment commitment to the United States as part of the U.S.-Japan trade deal. These are two separate projects, one located in Texas and the other located in Pennsylvania. Both are designed to serve large load in each state. The U.S. and Japan would own the projects while Energy Resources would develop, build, and operate them. We are actively developing both projects, advancing site development, procurement, permitting, and commercial structuring as we work toward definitive agreements with the U.S. and Japan. The projects are drawn from our existing group of data center hubs, a group that totals over 30 hubs with a year-end goal to secure roughly 40.
We now have four origination channels feeding into our base case goal of securing 15 gigawatts of new generation to serve large load by 2035. These four origination channels can also help us achieve our upside case of 30 gigawatts or more by 2035. We are working hard to meet this goal with all forms of energy—approximately 50% from gas-fired generation and the remainder from all other forms of energy. The first channel is working directly with hyperscalers to power their data centers. These are companies we have good long-standing relationships with. A great example is our collaboration with Google to recommission our Duane Arnold nuclear plant outside Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Our second channel is working with investor-owned utilities.
A perfect example is the joint development agreement which we signed with Xcel earlier this week to jointly plan and rapidly deploy new generation, storage, and transmission to capture accelerating data center demand across Xcel's eight-state service territory. Our third channel comes through our strong relationships with co-ops and municipalities. Our plan to work with Basin Electric to develop a 1.5 gigawatt combined-cycle plant in North Dakota is a great example. Our co-op and municipality customers value our skills, our capabilities, our customer relationships with hyperscalers, and our balance sheet, making us the perfect partner. Working with the federal government to build new natural gas power generation is our fourth channel. On Duane Arnold, we continue to make good progress.
Earlier this month, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a license transfer from the plant's minority owners, Central Iowa Power Cooperative and Corn Belt Power Cooperative, to NextEra Energy, Inc. This key federal approval clears the way for Energy Resources to finalize the acquisition of their 30% ownership stake, which would give us full ownership of Duane Arnold. At the same time, the process to regain interconnection rights for Duane Arnold continues to progress as expected. The plant remains on track to re-enter service no later than Q1 2029. We also continue to evaluate advanced nuclear, closely evaluating the capabilities of various SMR OEMs.
We have 6 gigawatts of SMR co-location opportunities at our nuclear sites and we are working to develop new greenfield sites. Of course, any new nuclear build would have to include the right commercial terms and conditions with appropriate risk-sharing mechanisms that limit our ultimate exposure. Given that we have built more energy infrastructure over the last two decades than any other company, that means we have a lot of operating assets coming off contract. In fact, we have up to 6 gigawatts of renewables and 1.5 gigawatts of nuclear recontracting opportunities through 2032. The timing could not be better. The projects were generally built and contracted years ago during much less favorable market conditions.
As the PPAs begin to expire over the next several years, we believe recontracting will command a higher price. In fact, in the first quarter, we contracted over 600 megawatts of existing projects, locking in contracts for an average of over 18 years, reflecting the strong electricity demand environment we are seeing today. Energy Resources’ customer supply business advanced its growth strategy during the first quarter, highlighted by our strategic acquisition of Symmetry Energy Solutions, which is one of the U.S.’s natural gas suppliers. Symmetry operates in 34 states and provides us access to additional physical assets, enabling us to deliver a broad range of solutions for our customers.
In fact, across all of our businesses, we now transport and deliver approximately 2.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas annually, or about 8 billion cubic feet per day, making us one of the largest and most active gas suppliers serving wholesale, retail, and industrial customers nationwide. While we continue to grow and deliver value and innovative solutions for customers every single day, we are also focused on making ourselves better and taking steps to redefine the future of the entire electric industry. We are doing this through our new Rewire initiative and a partnership with Google Cloud.
Rewire is a company-wide initiative to reimagine how we work and how we do business, paired with an enterprise-wide AI transformation that we expect to unlock top-line growth and cost savings opportunities for our customers. At the same time, Rewire is serving as our AI product development platform. We believe the new AI tools and solutions that we build will not only redefine how we do business and create a competitive advantage, but will also help transform how our industry generates and delivers electricity and serves customers. Partnering with Google, we are delivering these products to the utility industry to unlock savings for American homes and businesses. In the first quarter, we brought to market our first Rewire products.
For example, Conduit is an AI-powered tool designed to upskill our already best-in-class renewables workforce, increasing their efficiency in the field and keeping our power plants up and running. Another product called Generation Entitlement proactively identifies abnormal equipment conditions, enabling teams to take early action and optimize power plant performance across the fleet. A product called Grid Composer uses AI to optimize and orchestrate all aspects of the power generation process. It brings real-time recommendations into one place to enable faster, more informed decisions around unit commitment, power and fuel dispatch, and maintenance scheduling. Importantly, we believe these tools have the potential to drive significant savings for customers. FPL's bill today is already approximately 30% below the national average.
One of the reasons that is possible is because of our relentless focus on technology and driving costs out of the business. FPL's non-fuel O&M is more than 71% lower than the industry average. In fact, we are 50% more cost efficient than the second-best utility in America. We believe our Rewire products reinforce our position as the lowest-cost electric utility operator in the country. But it does not stop there. By working closely with hyperscalers, we are structuring solutions that support growth while keeping power prices affordable for American families. As we have discussed previously, that is why Energy Resources has been focused on the bring-your-own-generation, or BYOG, model that ensures large-load customers pay their fair share.
Not coincidentally, that happens to be perfectly aligned with where the market and policymakers are moving. The concept is simple: we build energy infrastructure for hyperscalers and they pay for it. Everyday Americans do not. That is the way to power America's growth and keep power bills affordable. But we believe there is much more to the story. Remember, many parts of the country are starting at real capacity deficits as we approach the end of the decade. BYOG power solutions could become critical elements of a resilient grid if we start to think about them as dispatchable resources during times of extreme demand.
It is exactly what we are working on with NVIDIA, a collaboration we announced in the first quarter. Just think about being able to temporarily cycle down or shift data center activity for a few hours during extreme cold or extreme heat. That would allow local load-serving entities to use that power to meet customer demand when power is scarce and at a higher cost, increasing reliability and lowering power bills for everyday Americans. This is another example of how we are trying to lead and move to where we believe the market is going to be.
Bottom line, at this unique moment in our industry, scale, experience, and innovation matter more than ever, and our common platform provides us with what we believe is an unmatched competitive advantage. It is more than just our operating scale. We have a robust supply chain. We have global banking relationships. We have worked hard to maintain one of the largest and strongest balance sheets in the sector. We use technology and data to deliver solutions for our customers. This platform is what enables us to build all forms of energy across the energy value chain. It is also hard to replicate. That is because we have been building it, refining it, and optimizing it for decades.
It is how we deliver customers the reliable and affordable solutions they need when they need it, no matter where they are in America. As power demand rises, these unique capabilities become increasingly important, all of which is a big win for our customers, stakeholders, and shareholders we are honored to serve. I am pleased with how we started the year and even more excited for the rest of 2026 as we execute on our more than 12 ways to grow. With that, I will turn the call over to Michael for the financial results.
Michael H. Dunne: Thanks, John. Let us begin with FPL's detailed results. For the first quarter of 2026, FPL's earnings per share increased $0.06 year over year. Regulatory capital growth of approximately 8.8% was a significant driver of FPL's earnings per share growth versus the prior-year comparable quarter. FPL's capital expenditures were approximately $3.2 billion for the quarter, and we expect FPL's full-year capital investments to be between $12 billion and $13 billion. For the 12 months ending March 2026, FPL's reported return on equity for regulatory purposes will be approximately 11.7%. During the first quarter, we utilized approximately $306 million of the rate stabilization mechanism, leaving FPL with an after-tax balance of approximately $1.2 billion.
This quarter, FPL placed into service approximately 600 megawatts of new cost-effective solar, putting FPL's owned and operated solar portfolio at over 8.5 gigawatts. Key indicators show Florida's economy remains healthy. Florida continues to be one of the fastest growing states in the nation and had three of the five fastest growing U.S. metro areas between 2024 and 2025. As John mentioned, FPL had a strong quarter of customer growth, with the average number of customers increasing nearly 100 thousand from the comparable prior-year period. FPL's first quarter retail sales increased by approximately 3.4% year over year.
After taking weather into account, first quarter retail sales increased by roughly 0.3% on a weather-normalized basis from the comparable prior-year period, driven primarily by continued favorable underlying population growth. Now let us turn to Energy Resources, which reported adjusted earnings growth of approximately 14% year over year. Contributions from new investments increased $0.04 per share year over year, primarily reflecting continued growth in our power generation portfolio. Our existing clean energy portfolio increased $0.01 per share during the quarter. The comparative contribution from our customer supply business decreased by $0.04 per share, primarily driven by lower production volume in our upstream operations and continued normalization of margins in our full-requirements business.
Contributions from NextEra Energy Transmission increased $0.05 per share year over year, net of financing costs, driven by the sale of a 50% equity interest in a transmission asset located in California. We had no change from other impacts as lower tax costs were largely offset by higher financing costs, which are primarily related to new borrowings to support our new investments. We remain well positioned to navigate the current interest rate environment through our over $43 billion interest rate hedging program. We have also planned for potential trade impacts and positioned ourselves to deliver and execute for our customers.
That is why we proactively secured supply to support both FPL's and Energy Resources’ development plans, including the development of our national data center hub footprint. For solar, we have secured panels through 2029. We are also well protected for battery storage, with competitively priced domestic supply secured through 2029. We have secured key wind components domestically for our new-build expectations through 2027. We also have sufficient transformer capacity to support our build forecast through the end of the decade. Energy Resources had a record quarter of new renewables and storage origination, with 4 gigawatts added to the backlog.
With these additions, our backlog now totals approximately 33 gigawatts after taking into account 0.3 gigawatts of new projects placed into service since our last earnings call. This highlights the continued strong demand for renewables and storage, and our backlog additions reflect the diverse power demand we are seeing across our customers. Roughly 30% of our backlog additions are driven by hyperscalers, while the remaining 70% comes from power utility customers, including cooperatives and municipalities. Turning now to our first quarter 2026 consolidated results, adjusted earnings from Corporate and Other decreased by $0.02 per share year over year.
Our 2026 adjusted earnings per share expectations range of $3.92 to $4.02 remains unchanged, and we are targeting the high end of that range. We expect to grow adjusted earnings per share at a compound annual growth rate of 8%+ through 2032, and are targeting the same from 2032 through 2035, all off the 2025 base of $3.71 adjusted earnings per share. From 2025 to 2032, we expect that our average annual growth in operating cash flow will be at or above our adjusted earnings per share compound annual growth rate range.
We also continue to expect to grow our dividends per share at roughly 10% per year through 2026 off a 2024 base, and 6% per year from year-end 2026 through 2028. As always, our expectations assume our caveats. This concludes our prepared remarks. We will now open the call for questions.
Operator: Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw it, please press star then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Our first question comes from Steven Isaac Fleishman with Wolfe Research. Please proceed.
Steven Isaac Fleishman: Yeah, hi. Good morning, everyone. So, just a couple of questions on the U.S.-Japan projects. First of all, do you have anything you could share on milestones and timeline to get to a final agreement there? And do you have the turbines for these projects? And also, on pipeline and transmission access, is that something you might be able to participate in as well, helping to build pipe or transmission for these projects? Thanks.
John W. Ketchum: Yes, Steve, I will go ahead and take this, and good morning. First of all, on the milestones, we continue to be heavily engaged, as you would expect, with both the Department of Commerce and the Japanese government. Right now, as we negotiate definitive agreements, we are looking to have those completed in the next two- to three-month period on both of those projects. After those are executed, you can imagine the agreements themselves will contain a series of milestones with payments tied to those milestones as they are achieved. On project development, we are heavily engaged at both sites—the Texas site and the Pennsylvania site—in terms of advancing those sites forward.
In terms of turbine supply, we will have ample supply of turbines and are not concerned about that for both of those projects. In terms of gas pipeline access, that is one of the skills that we bring to the table. The Texas site is strategically located because one of our partners there is Comstock, and so we have bountiful gas supply available in the region, which makes that project extremely attractive. As we advance Pennsylvania, that will be a key part of the decision-making matrix as we look to further the development activities there. Transmission access on both of those sites is something that we will obtain as we move those projects forward.
That is what we do every day. I think a big reason we got these awards from the DOC is that there is really nobody that looks like us today. There is nobody out building generation at scale. We intentionally shifted our strategy last year to bring your own generation. We knew that was where the market was heading. We set up our strategy around it, our supply chain around it, and our development activities around it. The market wants power solutions at scale, and to do that you have to have a combination of capabilities and skill sets that we have been building for two to three decades at this company.
They are very hard to find and very hard to put together if you do not have them today. Being a builder in today's market across 49 states with all the know-how and capability sets that we have really sets us apart from the competition.
Steven Isaac Fleishman: Great. Just one other unrelated question. Good to see the 600 megawatts of recontracting being done. Do you have any data point on the price increase or price change in the new contracts versus the old ones?
Michael H. Dunne: Yes, Steve. The pricing on the new contracts is roughly a $20 per megawatt-hour on average increase relative to the prior realized pricing.
Steven Isaac Fleishman: Great. Thank you.
Operator: The next question comes from Julien Patrick Dumoulin-Smith with Jefferies. Please proceed.
Julien Patrick Dumoulin-Smith: Hey, guys. Good morning. Nicely done, genuinely. Just wanted to follow up a little bit on the linear infrastructure. How do you think about expanding this business? You talk about hires, etcetera, but can you talk a little bit about whether this is an acquisitive strategy or how you think about building it or rebuilding, however you want to frame it?
John W. Ketchum: Yes. I will take it in pieces. I will start with transmission, then I will talk about pipelines. When you think about the transmission business, this really leverages all the skill sets that we have on the generation side. Building generation and building linear infrastructure require a lot of the same skill sets. You have to have a very sophisticated land operation. You have to be able to manage the permitting and approval process. You have to have a good ground game in terms of reaching out to local communities and working with stakeholders at the state and the federal level. And you have to find projects that make sense and will result in affordability for customers.
These are things that we do on the generation side every day that transcend over into linear infrastructure around transmission. Given all the know-how we already have from FPL and the success we have had building transmission in Florida, that from an operations standpoint extends to what we are doing elsewhere. We see terrific greenfield opportunities, and it is a lot of the same strategic steps we take around generation, which gives us a big leg up. In terms of acquisitions, if we found the right project that made sense, we could look at acquisition depending on the stage of development. Sometimes there are good development assets that could be a good fit with our overall portfolio.
We always lean toward greenfield for the reasons I just gave, but buying operating transmission assets is something we could look at opportunistically if they made sense and were in the right places. Where we have seen a lot of success on the transmission side is our ability to partner with incumbents. The relationships we have built across the investor-owned utility, co-op, and municipality space serve us well on generation and on transmission. We are seeing a lot of success through those partnering arrangements. On pipelines, that capitalizes on the same greenfield skill sets around generation and transmission. Add our market knowledge on where gas transmission can make sense—the Symmetry acquisition is a big part of that.
When you are one of the largest movers of gas in the United States, you have more information and knowledge as to where gas pipeline expansions are required. It informs our decision-making around our data center hubs on where they are going to be most economical and optimized around gas. All the investments and other pieces we have around customer supply and Symmetry feed equally well into the pipeline business. It is a natural extension of our ability to enable data center hubs by building gas or transmission to serve hyperscalers. We have really moved away from building 200 or 300 megawatts—that does not get it done for a hyperscaler.
We are looking at building 2 to 5 gigawatts for hyperscalers. You would be amazed at the amount of interest and the amount of demand we are seeing for that solution, and we are really unique in the ability to deliver that product because you have to have all the things I talked about to be able to do it and do it right.
Julien Patrick Dumoulin-Smith: Awesome. And if I can just squeeze in a quick follow-up here—how would you set expectations for other non-Japanese type projects as far as the BTM effort goes? BTM is obviously linked this time to the power dynamic, creating a bit of an accelerated timeline, I suspect. How would you frame that?
John W. Ketchum: Great question, Julien. We have talked a lot about our ability to work with co-ops and municipalities. That really helps enable situations where we can move behind the meter in those service territories—maybe build something that ultimately has what I call the extension cord to the grid over time. Even if you start behind the meter, you have to be able to demonstrate a path to be in front of the meter within three, four, five years. A lot of the discussions we are having around our data center hubs are starting behind the meter—islanded solutions.
I think more and more of the market is going to go there, particularly in areas where the load interconnect process is taking five to seven years to clear. People cannot wait. There is too big of an opportunity cost around the data center and cloud storage business models to wait five to seven years for load interconnect.
We solve that problem with a behind-the-meter solution, but you have to know what you are doing, where to site those, how to bring a number of technologies to bear, and you have to have the foresight to credibly lay out a plan to be interconnected within three to five years because that interconnection allows you to really optimize the value of that data center. I truly believe that we need to be, as a country, looking at data centers as giant batteries that sit behind the grid. I talked about our NVIDIA collaboration—being able to flex chips in terms of how they consume and use power.
Given all the software we have developed around dispatchability of batteries, we are uniquely positioned to design a product that, combined with our customer supply business, can firm and shape products during scarcity intervals—hot summer days, cold winter days—where a data center can be dispatched like a battery. Think about what that does for affordability for customers in the region when you are providing that excess supply. It helps take a big hit out of the bill for everyday Americans during those scarcity times we have seen over the last five to ten years. Hyperscalers are very interested in this, and with our expertise and partnership with Google, we are well positioned.
Operator: The next question comes from Shahriar Pourreza with Wells Fargo. Please proceed.
Shahriar Pourreza: Hey, guys. Good morning. John, on large-scale nuclear, the government and hyperscalers have indicated interest in the AP1000, and there seems to be a consortium of regulated utilities forming that could consider new nuclear development as a group with a good portion of the cost and inflation above budgeted amounts being borne by the hyperscalers, so the off-takers. Turkey Point is under an active review with the NRC. Are you part of this consortium? Is it something you would consider with the right cost overrun protections? Or are you just really focused on recontracting like Point Beach and Seabrook?
John W. Ketchum: Let me take those in pieces. Turkey Point is in an unusual position because Turkey Point 6 and 7 already have licenses, so you skip to the front of the line on seven to eight years of approvals that would otherwise be required. We have always had Turkey Point as a natural gas fuel hedge if we wanted to do something there around an AP1000. That said, we would probably be more inclined to toe in the water with an SMR down at Turkey Point rather than an AP1000, and we would do it in a way where we could combine what I like to call the four wallets: the OEM, the developer, the hyperscaler, and the federal government.
We have to be comfortable with the technology and technical feasibility—will it work at the end of the day?—and it has to be structured in a way that protects our customers and shareholders. We would not do that together with the consortium. We have a lot of experience here and feel very comfortable in our ability to do this on our own, but you have to get the insurance tower right in terms of who takes ultimate cost overrun risk. Outside of Florida, we are working closely with SMR OEMs and with hyperscalers. We have our national collaboration with Google, for example, around advanced nuclear. We are looking together with Google at where that might make the most sense.
We have 6 gigawatts of SMR capacity at our existing sites and the ability to greenfield development as well, but any of those opportunities have to include those four wallets, and we have to get the technical and commercial risk sharing right for those to advance.
Shahriar Pourreza: Got it. So your view is that, despite the learning curves of Vogtle, the SMRs are still more economical than an AP1000?
John W. Ketchum: Yes. There are two types of SMRs. There are Gen 3s, which I would call a downsized AP1000—you are building an AP1000 in a smaller chunk, a smaller bet. GE has the Ontario project going on now, and there will be a lot learned coming out of that. The Gen 4s are a different step change—the technology is not really an extension of an AP1000, and you are also jumping into an additional fuel risk with high-assay low-enriched uranium, which we still have not really perfected in this country. Our focus would be more around the Gen 3 technology.
Shahriar Pourreza: And lastly on Point Beach, we are getting close to when a decision needs to be made on the PPA, especially for the off-taker who will need to plan ahead on new generation needs if the PPAs are not renewed. Are dialogues going with WEC? Do you have interest from a hyperscaler? When can we get an update around Point Beach?
John W. Ketchum: Thanks, Shar. There is a lot of interest for Point Beach, as you might imagine, from a number of folks. We are being diligent and making sure that we make the right decision around Point Beach. I am not going to call out who exactly we are talking to, but needless to say, there is a lot of interest around that asset for obvious reasons given where it is located and all the hyperscaler opportunities around it. Discussions are continuing to progress there. We like what we see, and it is an attractive and valuable asset.
Shahriar Pourreza: Got it. Fantastic. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
John W. Ketchum: Thank you, Shar.
Operator: The next question is from William Appicelli with UBS. Please proceed.
William Appicelli: Hi. Good morning. On the backlog update, you have seen strong progression from about 3 gigawatts in Q3 to 3.6 to now 4 gigawatts. Would you say this reflects some acceleration of contracting ahead of the tax credit rolloffs at the end of the decade, or is this just underlying demand being exceedingly strong irrespective of the tax credits?
Brian W. Bolster: It is Brian. I would say at this point we have not actually stepped into the acceleration yet. This is a reflection of the growth we have seen in the market. It is really the reflection of fundamental demand and growth tied to what is the best economic answer for the demand in front of us, as opposed to people trying to move in advance of the tax credits.
John W. Ketchum: The other thing I would add is what I said in my prepared remarks about where we stand in our supply chain—solar panels bought through 2029, transformers through the end of the decade, batteries through 2029, wind components through 2027, and so on. We are very well positioned to capitalize on the back-end demand that we see coming, which I think is going to be a fantastic opportunity for this company. Combine that with the safe harbor position that we already have and were quite aggressive on.
I cannot imagine any company in America better positioned to seize upon the demand we are going to see over the next three to four years and beyond for renewables and storage, particularly given how long it is taking to build gas-fired generation in this country. We are building it all—we are big believers that gas is needed and will provide a big impact—but it is not quick to get to market, and solar and storage are. We have positioned our company around seizing those opportunities. You are seeing the first showing of that here this quarter, and we look forward to many more strong quarters to come.
William Appicelli: So there is upside to a 4-gigawatt quarter run rate, I guess, is another way to put that.
John W. Ketchum: You said it, I did not. But we feel really, really good about where we sit.
William Appicelli: Okay. Shifting gears, outside of the Texas and Pennsylvania projects, can you speak to the gas generation new-build contracting? I know it is subsumed in the hub strategy, but it seems like there are complexities around getting deals announced on new-build gas contracts. Is there anything you can point to in terms of gating factors? Is it complexity around managing fuel risk, or is it getting the off-takers to commit?
John W. Ketchum: Gas buildout continues to advance around the country, but remember the industry was starting gas-fired generation development from a standing start a year or two ago. Manufacturing has started to ramp up and EPC labor is responding as well. The biggest constraint I see in the market right now to getting gas built faster is labor—EPC contractors. We used to have nine, ten, eleven contractors building gas plants ten to twenty years ago. Some filed bankruptcy; some pivoted to other businesses. If you look at the four EPC contractors that we do business with today, it is a lot fewer than we have ever had.
There is a squeeze on labor in the market today when you are building a gas plant—pipefitters, welders, and so on. The same EPC firms are building LNG terminals and data centers and are in other parts of the market. Lining up the labor and getting labor secured and in place is a piece of it. Depending on where you are building, permitting is another. We keep talking about permitting reform. We have to get permitting reform done in this country. It is imperative that we get that done, both for linear facilities and to expedite permitting at the state and federal levels. Those are the things contributing to timing. The gas will be built.
It will come online, and NextEra Energy, Inc. is one of the companies that will drive that, but it is just not as fast as other forms of generation. That is why we keep saying we need it all. We need to put it all together and get every electron on the grid as fast as possible—speed to power is essential. That will allow us to unleash American energy dominance across America.
William Appicelli: Great. Thank you very much.
Operator: The next question comes from Nicholas Joseph Campanella with Barclays. Please proceed.
Nicholas Joseph Campanella: Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. A lot of good updates. I wanted to ask quickly on the large-load you want to deliver on at FPL. Is that already in the plan? We noticed the capital expenditures are now $12 billion to $13 billion for 2026, and at the analyst event there was $10 billion to $11 billion—so a nice increase there. Is that for the large load you were already talking about? Is that the new run rate we should expect going forward for FPL, understanding that you reaffirmed the total CapEx outlook today?
Michael H. Dunne: Hey, Nick, Michael Dunne here. A few things. First, we have not said how many gigawatts of large load we expect at FPL; we have only said that we expect to have a large-load transaction finalized this year. We have not set a one-gigawatt or other number. Second, as you look at the CapEx increase, this aligns with what John said earlier about being prepared. As we brought in and secured solar supply, a piece of that is bringing it in today at locked-in prices to remove any trade impacts. We will use that to cost effectively serve our customers in Florida in the future, but it does pull in some capital expenditures.
FPL is situated extremely well for low cost to our customers by taking proactive measures to reduce any trade impacts.
Nicholas Joseph Campanella: Understood. Thank you. Then one follow-up on the Japan deal and framework. Our understanding is that it is a capital-light opportunity—they are the owners, you are the builders. How would you view the return of that opportunity relative to the 13% to 20%+ equity IRR that you had out there at the investor conference? The 9.5 gigawatts is a very large number, so we are trying to understand how that supports or accelerates the 8%+ EPS view. Thank you.
Michael H. Dunne: First, to confirm, this is a capital-light investment—essentially zero capital for us. From a returns perspective, it is essentially infinite. We are putting no capital down, and we would potentially receive fee streams for a long period of time. Importantly, to capture that, our incentives are 100% aligned with the U.S. government and with Japan because we will need to perform in order to receive those payments. They also continue through the duration of the assets, so they are not just development or construction payments, but also ongoing O&M payments.
As you look at what those fees can be and what that value can be to NextEra Energy, Inc., we would like to take the time to make certain that we have the contracts in place before sizing it. We are making this time investment and working through these because they can be value accretive to our shareholders.
Operator: At this time, this concludes our question and answer session as well as today's conference. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines, and have a pleasant day.




