Dominion sale raises alarm bells
The sale of Dominion Energy to Florida-based NextEra Energy is expected to create the largest regulated utility in the world.
Dominion announced the all-stock transaction in a press release on May 18. The combined energy company would serve 10 million homes and businesses.
In a call with investors, company officials said the deal would ultimately benefit ratepayers.
“The combined company will drive affordability in the long term by leveraging scale and operating and capital efficiencies as the company makes smart investments on behalf of its customers to meet growing power demand,” the press release states.
Consumer advocates are skeptical. Clean Virginia, a nonprofit opposed to utility monopoly corruption in Virginia politics, says, “NextEra corrupted Florida’s elections and raised its customers’ bills to record levels. If NextEra and Dominion cannot commit to binding reductions in customer bills and an end to political interference, this deal should be dead on arrival.”
The merger comes at a time when the utility industry is struggling to meet the energy demands of data centers amid the artificial intelligence boom. And that is driving up costs for ratepayers.
Virginia has nearly a quarter of the data centers in the U.S. and faces increasing demand for more, while facing a growing backlash from the public.
The merger has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies. The transaction is expected to close in 12 to 18 months, subject to approval by shareholders and regulatory bodies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC), the North Carolina Utilities Commission, and the Public Service Commission of South Carolina.
The companies will maintain dual headquarters in Florida and Virginia and operational headquarters in South Carolina.
John Ketchum, chairman, president, and CEO of NextEra Energy, will serve as chairman and CEO of the combined company. Robert Blue, chair, president, and CEO of Dominion Energy, will be president and CEO of regulated utilities for the new company and will serve on the board of directors.
Clean Energy urges the SCC to hold robust public hearings and require full disclosure of NextEra’s history and practices of political influence.”
The organization says any utility bill credits proposed by the companies would be a temporary measure aimed at getting the merger approved.
“This deal would hand control of Virginia’s electric grid to a company with a deeply troubling track record,” said Clean Virginia Executive Director Brennan Gilmore. “Before Virginia ratepayers are locked into a relationship with NextEra Energy, every policymaker and regulator in the Commonwealth needs to understand what NextEra has done in Florida and ask hard questions about whether Virginians can expect anything different.”
Through its principal subsidiary, Florida Power & Light, NextEra “has been connected to election manipulation, surveillance of journalists, co-optation of civil rights organizations, and the use of dark money networks to capture regulators and defeat energy competition,” Gilmore charges. Customers, meanwhile, are experiencing the largest rate hike in history.