NextEra Energy vs Duke Energy

Comparative Analysis

Generated Apr 17, 2026·Data as of Apr 17

496 vs 204

Plants

100.3 GW vs 67 GW

Capacity

43 vs 22

States

33 vs 81

Queue

Scale & Fleet

NextEra Energy operates a significantly larger fleet with 496 plants and a total capacity of 100.3 GW, compared to Duke Energy's 204 plants and 67 GW.
NextEra Energy has a broader geographic footprint, operating in 43 states, while Duke Energy is concentrated in 22 states.
In terms of fuel mix, NextEra Energy is dominated by wind (28.8 GW) and natural gas (30.8 GW), alongside a substantial solar (25.7 GW) portfolio. Duke Energy's fleet is primarily natural gas (29 GW) and hydroelectric (3.8 GW), with a smaller solar (4.4 GW) and wind (3.1 GW) presence.
Both companies have a presence in Florida, indicating a key overlap in their operational territories.
NextEra Energy has a larger development queue at 9.4 GW across 33 projects, while Duke Energy has more projects in its queue (81 projects) but a slightly smaller capacity at 7 GW.
NextEra Energy is clearly the larger entity in terms of both fleet size and total capacity.

NextEra Energy boasts a significantly larger installed capacity at 100.3 GW across 496 plants, compared to Duke Energy's 67 GW from 204 plants.
NextEra demonstrates a stronger focus on renewables, with 54.5 GW from solar and wind (25.7 GW solar, 28.8 GW wind). In contrast, Duke Energy's renewable capacity is considerably lower at 7.5 GW (4.4 GW solar, 3.1 GW wind).
NextEra’s wind capacity (28.8 GW) is nearly ten times that of Duke Energy (3.1 GW), highlighting a key difference in their renewable strategy.
Both companies utilize natural gas heavily, with NextEra having 30.8 GW and Duke Energy 29 GW, indicating a shared reliance on this fuel despite their renewable expansions.
NextEra has a larger development pipeline with 9.4 GW across 33 projects, while Duke Energy has more projects but less capacity at 7 GW across 81 projects, suggesting smaller individual project sizes for Duke.
NextEra Energy appears more efficient in renewable generation due to its larger installed solar and wind capacity, indicating a higher capacity factor for these sources relative to its overall portfolio compared to Duke Energy.

NextEra Energy demonstrates significantly stronger growth momentum, particularly in renewables.
NextEra Energy has a much larger existing renewable capacity with 25.7 GW of solar and 28.8 GW of wind, compared to Duke Energy's 4.4 GW of solar and 3.1 GW of wind.
While Duke Energy has more projects in its queue (81 vs. 33), NextEra Energy's queue projects represent a higher total capacity at 9.4 GW compared to Duke Energy's 7 GW. This suggests larger individual project sizes for NextEra Energy.
Both entities have an equal number of news articles (50 each), indicating similar levels of recent public activity, but NextEra Energy's larger overall capacity and pipeline capacity point to more substantive development.
NextEra Energy also has a larger existing battery storage capacity (2.3 GW) compared to Duke Energy's (1.1 GW), further highlighting its lead in modern energy infrastructure.