CERAWEEK-NextEra mulls doubling $20 billion investment in Texas in next few years

By Laila Kearney

HOUSTON, March 12 (Reuters) - NextEra Energy NEE.N is considering doubling its $20 billion investment in Texas in the next few years, an executive with the company's renewables arm said on Wednesday.

U.S. power demand is being driven to record highs as Big Tech's data centers and the electrification of industries like transportation boost power demand, and Texas is seeing one of the fastest-growing demand waves of any state.

"Everything is happening in Texas," said Michele Wheeler, vice president, regulatory & political affairs for NextEra Energy Resources, which is based in Florida. "It really is easier here in Texas."

Some projections say the Lone Star state, which is the biggest power producing state, could see a doubling of electricity demand by 2030.

NextEra is currently exploring land in the Permian Basin, the biggest shale oil basin in the world that spans west Texas and New Mexico, for development, Wheeler said at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.

Wheeler sat alongside executives with GoogleGOOGL.O and Southern Company SO.N, along with the chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Texas, who talked about the complicated balancing act of meeting the surging energy demand from data centers and maintaining a reliable grid.