Lisa Messano, League of Women Voters, GUEST COLUMN
I recently participated in a call hosted by Virginia Organizing about the proposed merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy and later read several articles on the topic in the Virginia Mercury. I am sharing my concerns ahead of the November 12 deadline for Virginia residents to submit public comments, advocate for themselves, and demand adequate protection for Dominion’s Virginia customers.
The decision on whether these giant energy companies should be permitted to merge rests with three people at the Virginia State Corporation Commission, and they have only six months to decide. In this golden age of power demand, as data centers are planned and built at a rapid pace, it begs the question of who would benefit from a merger of this size. If approved, this merger would create the largest regulated utility in the country and the fourth-largest merger in the United States.
NextEra has a history of rate hikes and shutoffs, disconnecting more homes than almost any power company in America. At a time when most people are struggling to make ends meet, and the cost to heat homes is spiking, we cannot allow a merger like this to add more burden to working Virginian families. In our home, energy costs have doubled since this time last year.
NextEra makes much of its profit from large builds, like data centers. Many Virginia communities are organizing to oppose data center builds because of documented impacts on local energy costs, water usage, noise pollution, and other environmental impacts. We need to slow down on permitting data center builds until we know the true, long-lasting impacts and have established guardrails to protect communities.
After a statewide tour to hear directly from Virginia residents, Virginia Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi pledged her opposition to the $67 billion merger, and 17 lawmakers have signed on as Ratepayer Champions and opposed the merger. Virginia residents can visit https://stopnextera.com/ to ask their delegate to sign the commitment to oppose the merger, and visit Virginia SCC - Dominion-NextEra Merger to submit public comment.
Regulators have until Jan. 11, 2027, to approve or reject the merger, but the time for Virginia residents to act is now.
Is there a website to register support for this merger?