How to weigh in on the Dominion-NextEra merger

RICHMOND, Va. - The proposed merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy would put Virginia's largest electric utility under a Florida-based parent. Before the State Corporation Commission decides, ordinary Virginians get a chance to speak. Here is how.

The key dates

According to the SCC's Dominion-NextEra merger page, updated Oct. 13:

• Nov. 2: Last day to register as a public witness for the telephone hearings.
• Nov. 5: Public witness testimony by phone, 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., and in person, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., in the second-floor courtroom at 1300 East Main St., Richmond.
• Nov. 9: Public witness testimony by phone, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Nov. 10: Public witness testimony by phone, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Nov. 12: Last day to submit written comments.
• Nov. 17: The evidentiary hearing begins.

The SCC already held local hearings in Newport News on Oct. 7 and in Fairfax County on Oct. 9.

How to take part

To testify, register through the SCC's public witness page for Case PUR-2026-00112. To submit a written comment, use the public comment form linked from the same merger page. Comments become part of the case record. Use the case number, PUR-2026-00112, to make sure your comment lands in the right place. Case documents, including the staff testimony filed Monday, are available through SCC Docket Search.

What you might want to talk about

Staff's testimony, filed Oct. 19, gives the public plenty to react to. Staff concluded the companies had not met the legal standard for approval because the deal would expose Dominion Energy Virginia to the risks of NextEra's unregulated businesses (staff testimony, p. 6), and recommended approval only with added conditions (p. 7). Among the issues in the record:

• Bill credits: a typical 1,000 kWh household would get $10 a month for 48 months (p. 190).
• Jobs: the companies promise 10,431 Virginia jobs for five years. Staff wants 10 years (pp. 136, 140).
• Local offices: staff wants a 10-year ban on consolidating power plant operations and district offices (p. 7).
• Headquarters: NextEra commits to keep Dominion Energy Virginia's operating headquarters in Richmond and to build a new office tower there (pp. 134, 157).
• Goodwill: staff wants a firm guarantee that roughly $37.9 billion in goodwill never reaches customer rates (p. 144).

Why your voice and the donor's voice are not equal

Public witnesses get a few minutes at a microphone. Dominion gets something else: deep relationships in the General Assembly built on campaign money. VPAP records show the company's top 20 Democratic recipients took at least $8.42 million in 2025-26 and at least $7.15 million in 2023-24. Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell and Sen. Mamie Locke each took $600,000 this cycle, and Speaker Don Scott took $600,409. Dominion spread money to the other side of the aisle too: its 20 largest Republican recipients took about $5.58 million in 2025-26. Virginia Scope reports, using VPAP data, that Dominion has given nearly $18 million to Democrats and more than $15 million to Republicans since 2018. Dominion Energy PAC gave $117,800 to Democratic federal candidates and $162,500 to Democratic PACs and party committees in 2023-24, according to OpenSecrets.

The merger raises a hypothetical worth considering as you prepare comments. If a Juno Beach-run company stopped writing checks in Richmond, Democrats would lose at least $7 million to $8.5 million per two-year cycle from Dominion's top recipients, along with about $280,000 a cycle in federal PAC money. The staff testimony says nothing about political giving, and NextEra already runs its own PAC, so the money could simply change names.

The SCC, not the legislature, decides this case. Commissioners will weigh the staff testimony, the companies' rebuttal and public comments before ruling.

Page numbers refer to the 201-page public version of SCC Staff's prefiled testimony, Volume I of VII, in Case PUR-2026-00112 (SCC document 261030140), filed Oct. 19, 2026.

Richmond is an independent city in the Richmond region.