Black Hills to Merge With NorthWestern in $3.6 Billion Deal (2)

US power and natural gas utilities Black Hills Corp. and NorthWestern Energy Group agreed to merge in a $3.6 billion deal that underscores the boom for electricity demand that’s being unleashed by data centers.

The all-stock deal will create a regional company serving several Midwestern and Mountain states, the companies said Tuesday in a statement. The combination will create a utility serving 2.1 million customers across eight states.

US power companies are scrambling to secure enough supplies to meet a demand surge from data centers and artificial intelligence. The gains for demand are increasing household power bills, and some ...