ICYMI: 36 Virginia organizations call for stronger review of proposed $67 billion NextEra-Dominion Energy merger
In case you missed it:
Virginia Poverty Law Center announced in a joint press release on Monday that a coalition of 36 organizations sent a letter calling on Governor Abigail Spanberger and General Assembly leadership to strengthen Virginia’s review process for the proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy by NextEra Energy before any State Corporation Commission (SCC) proceeding begins.
The signatories — representing a wide range of issue areas and constituencies across the Commonwealth — argue that Virginia’s current utility merger review framework is not equipped to handle a transaction of this size. If completed, the approximately $67 billion deal would be the largest utility merger in U.S. history and would directly affect millions of Virginia utility customers.
Read the full press release here.
The coalition is urging state leaders to:
- Extend the SCC’s review period to no less than 12 months for utility mergers of this scale
- Review and, if necessary, clarify Virginia’s merger review standard to ensure it serves the public interest
As the letter notes, the coalition is not asking state leaders to approve or reject the merger in advance. Rather, the organizations are calling for a review process that gives regulators the tools necessary to thoroughly scrutinize a transaction of unprecedented scale before any decision is made.
“Given what is at stake, Virginians deserve a review process with the time and the legal standard to actually protect their interests,” said Brennan Gilmore, executive director of Clean Virginia. “The General Assembly wrote these rules, and it’s up to the General Assembly and Governor to update them before this process moves any further.”
The full letter and list of signatories can be found here.