NEWPORT NEWS — Virginians on Wednesday added their opposition, support and questions to the official case record for the proposed merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy.
State Corporation Commission Chief Hearing Examiner Mathias Roussy heard directly from 30 Virginia residents at Christopher Newport University during the first of two local hearings. The SCC, which regulates utilities in Virginia, has six months to decide whether to allow the merger, with a deadline on Jan. 11.
Those who were for the merger still urged caution and review, with one Newport News resident asking the SCC to ensure the offered protections are enforceable. George Clark said he sees what rising costs mean to households and employers, and the $10-a-month bill credits for four years in Dominion and NextEra’s revised benefits package is “really meaningful.”
But naysayers of the proposed merger said the credits were not enough, and one speaker called the amount and length “insulting.”
“A single electric bill can swallow that entire amount,” Newport News resident Augusta Renee said. “And then what happens in five years, 10 years?”
The merger deal is valued at roughly $67 billion and would create one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in the world. The company would serve 10 million utility customers combined across Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida, in comparison to the current 2.7 million Dominion customers in Virginia.
The CEOs of Dominion and NextEra have previously said merging the two companies will allow them to drive down costs and they want to make rates more affordable for customers.
Pro-merger speakers mentioned the multistate experience it would provide, meeting the demand of the energy future, supporting projects such as Dominion’s offshore wind and addressing the rising costs of conducting business.
“Businesses need reliable infrastructure, (and) a workforce that’s ready for the jobs we’re trying to create,” said Chris Davidson, government affairs consultant for the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. “If Virginia wants to keep growing, we’ve got to be able to build the energy capacity that supports that.”
Speakers in opposition brought concerns of rate increases from the merger and the desire to keep Dominion local. Some speakers questioned NextEra’s commitment to renewable energy and their management track record.
Del. Shelly Simonds, a Newport News Democrat, did not outwardly oppose the proposal, but stressed the clean energy requirements enforced by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Clean Economy Act that the merged company would have to comply with. Simonds asked what Dominion and NextEra’s plan is to reach carbon neutrality, and mentioned NextEra’s history and potential future of “risky investments.”
“We know that some of the subsidiaries of NextEra do have debt on their books, and I want to make sure our customers are fenced off,” Simonds said.
The next local hearing is in Fairfax on Friday. Over 50 respondents, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger, have filed to become formal parties in the case, allowing them to ask questions for the record and provide testimony. Respondents and SCC staff will file testimonies with recommendations and findings on Oct. 19. The companies will respond with a rebuttal on Nov. 2., with the SCC hearing to begin Nov. 17.
Attorney General Jay Jones in September suggested the SCC reset the review period to allow for an extended inspection of the proposed revised benefits package. The companies first filed for a merger July 15, and introduced the revised benefits package Sept. 14. The SCC has not ruled on the motion, which asks to postpone the evidentiary hearing by two months.
On a webinar Wednesday with economic nonprofit RVA757 Connects, Dominion Energy CEO Robert Blue said the SCC is accustomed to statutory deadlines, and six months is plenty of time to review the proposal. Virginia law states that six months, or 180 days, is the maximum time for the SCC to approve or disapprove a requested acquisition.
The hearing played out a day after Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi announced her opposition to the proposed merger and said it is not in the best interest of Virginians. Prior to the local hearing in a news conference Wednesday, several Democratic state lawmakers also came out in opposition to the merger, including Dels. Mark Downey of Williamsburg, and Kacey Carnegie of Chesapeake.
Maggie Allwein, 757-672-3310, maggie.allwein@virginiamedia.com
Source: www.pilotonline.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.
