Virginia State Corporation Commission Member Won’t Recuse Herself From Dominion Talks

The State Corporation Commission, which oversees utilities in Virginia, is taking public comments on whether NextEra Energy should be allowed to buy Richmond-based Dominion Energy. The Florida-based company proposed a $67 billion takeover of Virginia’s largest utility, and the SCC has until January to either sign off on the deal, recommend changes, or block it.

The Energy Commission of Virginia and state lawmakers held the first public hearing this week to discuss the proposed merger. The energy commission monitors the State Corporation Commission’s implementation of the Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act.

A key consideration was whether Kelsey Bagot, the chair of the SCC, should recuse herself from consideration of whether the deal should be approved. Bagot worked as a senior attorney at NextEra before joining the SCC in 2024.

Earlier this year she recused herself from a case that involved a high-voltage power line. She does not think that it is necessary to sit out in this case. “Mere work history with a regulated entity has not served as a categorical basis requiring recusal,” she wrote in a letter to state Sen. Scott Surovell this week.

During her 2024 confirmation hearings, Bagot told lawmakers that her “role as a commissioner is to be open-minded, to build a robust record to make sure that I’m asking the right questions to develop that robust record, that I’m digging into the issues that I’m being tough but fair to everyone that’s before me.”

Members of the panel agreed. “These judges hold themselves to the highest standard, are exceptionally qualified, and it would be an extreme disservice to the Commonwealth of Virginia if she had to recuse herself on this matter,” former SCC commissioner Angela Navarro said. Bagot “need not recuse herself,” added Energy Commission member Meade Browder. She “has a duty to participate and hear cases that are brought before her.”

Outside the hearing, however, Dominion ratepayers disagreed. “If you left NextEra, which was this huge energy corporation, to go be the head of some other energy corporations, such as like the SCC, and now you’re overseeing a merger of these two companies. I mean, come on, that’s a direct conflict of interest,” Laura Arnett told WTVR.

To promote the merger, Dominion representatives said the deal could save ratepayers money. “If approved, our Virginia customers will benefit from $1.78 billion in NextEra Energy shareholder-funded bill credits,” a Dominion representative wrote. “Over the longer-term our projects will be more efficient to finance, purchase, and build due to the stronger credit and buying power of the combined company.”

In addition to the legislative commission, Abigail Spanberger has announced she wants to supervise the merger as well. “As Governor, I remain skeptical of the benefits this merger would deliver to Virginia—particularly if those benefits come at the expense of affordability, existing jobs, or meeting our homegrown clean energy goals,” she said this week.

However, there are also other reasons for her actions. “Spanberger’s goal in intervening in the NextEra Dominion application is to protect and perhaps expand the Virginia Clean Economy Act,” energy analyst Steve Haner of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy warned recently at Bacon’s Rebellion. He warned that her intervention could be expensive for Virginians. “If saving ratepayers money long term is the main point, wouldn’t it make sense to let NextEra reorganize and streamline quickly and reap those personnel savings? She and others are demanding years and years of padded utility payrolls.”

As discussions about the potential merger move ahead, Dominion said it has “sought, and have begun receiving,” repayments of some of the tariffs it paid since 2025 for equipment used in the construction of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. “Those costs should aver back to ratepayers, if possible,” Speaker of the House Don Scott told WVTF.