NextEra earned $1.15 a share on an adjusted basis and filed for approval of its Dominion takeover

NextEra Energy has started the regulatory clock on a large utility merger. The company said Friday it filed applications for approval of its proposed combination with Dominion Energy earlier this month, opening the state and federal review that follows the deal it announced on May 18.

The earnings underneath were strong. Adjusted second-quarter earnings were $2.407 billion, or $1.15 a share, up from $1.05 a year earlier, a gain of 9.5 percent. On a GAAP basis, which includes items the company strips out of its adjusted figure, net income was $3.144 billion, or $1.50 a share, against $0.98 in the same quarter last year.

Florida Power and Light did the steady work. The regulated utility earned $1.412 billion, or $0.67 a share, up from $1.275 billion, and grew its regulatory capital employed by about 9.3 percent over the year on roughly $2.8 billion of capital spending in the quarter. That capital base is what a regulated utility earns its return on, so growing it is how the earnings grow. The renewables arm, NextEra Energy Resources, added 3.6 gigawatts to its development backlog.

The Dominion terms remain contingent. NextEra said that if the combination is approved and completed, Dominion customers would receive $2.25 billion in shareholder-funded bill credits, and that the combined company would span four states. Every part of that depends on the approvals it has only just requested. The company held its longer-range target of 8 percent-plus adjusted earnings-per-share growth through 2032, measured from a 2025 base.