Regulators to Hold Hearings This Month on Proposed Dominion-NextEra Merger

Virginians have until Thursday to provide written testimony on the State Corporation Commission website about whether they support or oppose allowing Florida-based NextEra Energy to move forward with its proposed purchase of Richmond-based Dominion Energy. More than 2,400 comments have already been submitted.

NextEra is attempting to take over Dominion in an all-stock deal valued at $67 billion. The tie-up would create the largest regulated utility in the country. But because of that regulation, any such agreement must be signed off on by the State Corporation Commission.

The commission hosted its final in-person opportunity for public testimony last week in Richmond. Ahead of that session, commission staff members recommended that the three commissioners refuse to allow the merger, writing that the agreement wouldn’t adequately protect ratepayers in Virginia.

The next phase of the process begins next Tuesday, Nov. 17, when the commission will take testimony from parties involved in the proposed merger. That includes commission staff as well as representatives from the two utility companies and, potentially, political leaders.

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce has said it supports the merger. It released an independent economic analysis that found the partnership would create more than 9,300 construction jobs, generate $2.27 billion in new economic activity at peak, and deliver $1.87 billion in bill credits for Virginia businesses and residential consumers, enough to provide $500 in bill credits for a typical Virginia residential customer.

“This new analysis demonstrates that the proposed merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy will deliver significant benefits for Virginians through new investment, job creation, workforce development support, and enhanced energy reliability to meet growing residential, commercial, and industrial demand and help ensure Virginia remains economically competitive for decades to come,” Brad N. Hall, the president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement to the Daily Signal.

Union leaders also expressed support.

“Their proposed shareholder-funded $100 million investment would support career development, hands-on training and apprenticeships in partnership with unions, creating more pathways for Virginians to learn a trade, build a career and prepare for the major energy and infrastructure investments Virginia will need in the years ahead,” Kevin Battle, the business manager and secretary-treasurer at the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local Lodge 45, wrote.

Political leaders, however, are taking the opposite side of the merger.

“After listening to Virginians from different backgrounds across the Commonwealth and closely reviewing this proposal, I have concluded that it does not provide the protections Virginians demand and should not be approved,” Democrat Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi announced last month after a five-city “listening tour.”

Hashmi first attempted to involve herself in the approval process back in July when she submitted a long list of questions that she asked the State Corporation Commission to consider before it could approve the merger. The lieutenant governor may be staking out a campaign issue for 2029, when the office will again be open because of Virginia’s gubernatorial one-term limit.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger also weighed in. “I am calling for a six-year freeze to Virginians’ base residential electricity rates, a tripling of monthly bill credits for ratepayers, and additional commitments to lower energy costs and meet our long-term clean and homegrown energy goals if the State Corporation Commission is to approve this merger,” she announced last month.

Spanberger also brought Virginia back into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a separate measure which is expected to push up rates.

However, it isn’t clear that either woman should have a role in the process. The attorney general’s office usually speaks for the state, not the governor or lieutenant governor.

“In Virginia we have some foundational issues with our energy system that we have to address: The grid is overworked, we need more energy to meet the demand that we have, and costs are too high for every single one of us,” Attorney General Jay Jones said in a statement. “That’s exactly why we have opposed this merger in front of the SCC, because the transaction won’t do anything to address those fundamental issues.”

Richmond City Council announced that it will oppose the merger unless the companies agree to maintain the same number of employees that Dominion has now for at least five years.

After the hearings wrap up, the State Corporation Commission’s final decision is due by Jan. 11.

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