Virginia's State Corporation Commission has opened public hearings on NextEra Energy's proposed $67 billion all-stock takeover of Dominion Energy, a deal that would create the world's largest regulated utility and put a Florida company in charge of the power supplier serving more data centers than any other in the country.
The commission's own staff has already concluded the companies have not met their burden of proving the merger would protect ratepayers. Staff testimony found the companies' commitments insufficient to guarantee Dominion keeps the resources to serve customers, and warned that NextEra's unregulated, competitive business adds risk. Commissioners are not bound by those findings, but weigh them carefully.
Telephonic public testimony begins Nov. 5, the same day as the final in-person hearing at the commission in Richmond. Holding in-person hearings across the state is a rare move for the commission. The evidentiary phase opens Nov. 17, and a ruling is due by Jan. 11.
Under Virginia law, commissioners must decide whether adequate service at just and reasonable rates would be impaired or jeopardized by the combination.
What the companies are offering
The companies' latest filing offers the average residential customer a bill credit of about $10 a month for four years. The summer version offered credits for only two years and extended them to the GS5 rate class, made up largely of data centers; that money now goes toward residential customers instead.
The package also promises five years of job protection for Dominion workers, a new office building in downtown Richmond, and up to $200 million for workforce and weatherization programs. NextEra shareholders would hold 74.5% of the combined company and Dominion shareholders 25.5%.
Dominion says it would remain a separate entity bound by state law, including the Virginia Clean Economy Act's carbon-free mandate for 2045. Bill Murray, a Dominion vice president, has argued that combined purchasing power and a one-notch credit rating upgrade would lower the cost of building out infrastructure.
Staff drafted more than 100 conditions, including keeping Dominion's president a Virginia resident, maintaining separate bank accounts and financing, and barring NextEra Energy Transmission from future transmission projects in Dominion's zone of the PJM grid. The companies accepted many recommendations but rejected a rate freeze and some ring-fencing protections.
Spanberger seeks a bigger payout
Testimony filed for Gov. Abigail Spanberger asks for bill credits of $29 a month and a six-year base rate freeze. Her administration also wants a separate, financially walled-off subsidiary to build zero-carbon generation for large data centers.
The governor would also tie Dominion executives' bonuses to affordability, efficiency and clean energy benchmarks, allowing only half of that compensation to hinge on shareholder benefits.
A $10 monthly bill credit does not provide much confidence when Dominion has already petitioned the Commission to recover more than $10 per month in fuel-related costs this year alone
Robert McCann, testifying for Gov. Abigail Spanberger
Lt. Gov. Hashmi formally opposed the merger last month, saying a statewide listening tour found Virginians unconvinced the deal would lower bills that have risen in recent years.
Ethics questions and a track record
Commission Chairwoman Kelsey Bagot worked as a NextEra attorney for two years before her 2024 appointment. After Sen. Scott Surovell raised lawmakers' concerns in an Aug. 12 letter, Bagot said she would not recuse herself, citing legal counsel and the Canons of Judicial Conduct, though she had stepped back from earlier NextEra cases.
Lawmakers have also scrutinized NextEra's failed acquisitions. Hawaii regulators found its bid for Hawaiian Electric Companies was not in the public interest, and Texas regulators judged its Oncor deal a risk to ratepayers because of NextEra's debt. Clean Virginia won a bid to enter details of a $150 million settlement tied to Florida political interference allegations into evidence.
Legislators asked Spanberger to call a special session to lengthen the six-month review; she declined, pointing to her intervention in the case. Attorney General Jay Jones asked the commission to restart the clock after the revised proposal was filed, and it has not ruled.
Amazon and Google have intervened, pressing for faster grid connections. Dominion's interconnection queue for data center projects stretches about seven years, and Amazon's testimony said its large-load study process is not keeping pace with demand.
