The Virginia State Corporation Commission heard a parade of elected officials oppose the proposed Dominion Energy-NextEra Energy merger at a Fairfax County hearing Friday, with most speakers demanding the deal be blocked or conditioned on protections for ratepayers facing rising bills and a data center boom that threatens to socialize infrastructure costs.
FERC letter looms over state review
Del. Irene Shin pointed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s September 23 letter declaring the merger application incomplete and requesting more information on rate impacts. She urged the SCC to reject the deal rather than proceed without equivalent scrutiny. The commission is operating on a 180-day clock that targets a January decision, with telephonic hearings scheduled for November 5, 9 and 10 before an evidentiary hearing begins November 17.
Political leadership splits on the deal
Lieutenant Governor Ghazala Hashmi concluded a five-city listening tour by declaring the merger not in Virginians’ best interest. Governor Abigail Spanberger has not taken a position but filed as a respondent in August and has described herself as skeptical. The split leaves the SCC as the primary arena for a decision that will reshape the state’s regulated utility landscape.
Data centers dominate the cost debate
Alexandria Councilman John Taylor Chapman warned that creating the nation’s largest electric utility puts residents at risk of runaway costs with limited recourse, noting utility bills have risen dramatically over several years. Rep. Eugene Vindman argued NextEra sees enormous profits from Virginia’s data center explosion and insisted those facilities pay their fair share rather than letting families subsidize corporate expansion.
Union perspective complicates the narrative
IBEW Local 26 political coordinator Don Slaiman declined to endorse or oppose the merger, his union is still negotiating with both companies, but pushed back on data center criticism. He claimed the industry uses 6% or 7% of the grid versus the nearly half that would be required without centralized storage, adding that the sector provides fantastic jobs for his membership. The union’s leverage derives from workforce needs both companies cannot easily replace.