The Oct. 11 editorial “Five modern myths” uses a recent study to praise Dominion Energy’s transparency before drawing a false equivalency between the political activities of regulated utility monopolies and environmental groups. Both assertions warrant closer examination:
First, the transparency study is an important data point. Dominion has taken strides on transparency that deserve recognition, but as a public service utility given a monopoly by the state, complete transparency should be the expected norm — not an exception to be rewarded. More concerning is that Virginia’s campaign finance system — one of the worst in the county — is so weak that Dominion does not need to go to great lengths to hide the way they have rigged our system.