Virginia's State Corporation Commission has opened public hearings on NextEra Energy's proposed $67 billion all-stock acquisition of Dominion Energy, a deal that would create the largest regulated utility in the world and has drawn strong opposition from lawmakers, consumer advocates and residents.
Commissioners must decide whether the merger would leave adequate service at just and reasonable rates unimpaired, and their deadline stands at Jan. 11. Telephonic public testimony began Nov. 5, the same day as the final in-person hearing in Richmond, and the evidentiary phase starts Nov. 17.
Florida-based NextEra owns Florida Power and Light and the unregulated NextEra Energy Resources, which builds and runs large energy infrastructure. Combined with Dominion, it would serve more than 10 million customers with 110 gigawatts of power. NextEra shareholders would hold 74.5% of the merged company.
The companies' latest offer gives the average residential customer a bill credit of about $10 a month for four years, five years of job protection for Dominion employees, a new downtown Richmond office building, and up to $200 million in workforce and weatherization programs. Dominion executive Bill Murray has argued that bulk purchasing and a credit rating upgrade would lower costs for customers.
An earlier version filed over the summer offered credits for only two years and let the GS5 rate class, largely data centers, share in them. The revision shifts that money to residential customers. Dominion CEO Bob Blue testified that the companies still considered the original plan fair but offered the change to ease concerns.
Staff and state leaders push back
Commission staff concluded the companies had not met their burden of proving the merger would protect ratepayers, saying their commitments were insufficient and that NextEra's unregulated business would expose Dominion to added risk. Staff proposed more than 100 conditions, including keeping Dominion's president a Virginia resident and maintaining separate bank accounts.
Dominion and NextEra accepted a number of recommendations from staff and the attorney general's office but rejected others, including a rate freeze and certain ring-fencing protections.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger's administration wants the bill credit raised to $29 a month, a six-year base rate freeze and a walled-off subsidiary to build zero-carbon generation for large data centers. Robert McCann, testifying for the governor, noted that Dominion has already sought to recover more than $10 a month in fuel-related costs this year.
Lt. Gov. Hashmi formally opposed the merger last month, saying a statewide listening tour showed Virginians were not convinced it would lower their rising utility bills.
Commission Chairwoman Kelsey Bagot worked as a NextEra attorney for two years before her 2024 appointment. After Sen. Scott Surovell relayed lawmakers' questions in an Aug. 12 letter, Bagot said she would not recuse herself, citing legal counsel and the Canons of Judicial Conduct.
As has been demonstrated by long-standing historical Commissioner practice, mere work history with a regulated entity has not served as a categorical basis requiring recusal
Kelsey Bagot, State Corporation Commission chairwoman
Data centers and NextEra's record
Dominion supplies power to the most data centers in the nation, and its interconnection queue stretches about seven years. Amazon and Google have intervened in the case, with Amazon arguing that Dominion's large-load study process is not keeping pace with demand.
Regulators in Hawaii rejected NextEra's bid for Hawaiian Electric as not in the public interest, and Texas regulators found its attempt to take over Oncor risky because of NextEra's debt. Clean Virginia, another intervenor, won inclusion of details from a $150 million settlement involving political interference schemes in Florida.
Lawmakers asked Spanberger to call a special session to extend the commission's six-month review, but she declined, pointing to her intervention in the case. Attorney General Jay Jones has asked the commission to restart the clock, and it has not yet ruled.
