SCC staff: Deny the Dominion-NextEra merger as proposed

RICHMOND, Va. - The staff of the State Corporation Commission told the commissioners on Monday that Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy have not proven their proposed merger would leave Virginia customers protected, and that the deal should not be approved as filed.

In prefiled testimony submitted Oct. 19 in Case PUR-2026-00112, staff concluded the companies "have not met their burden to prove" that "adequate service to the public at just and reasonable rates will not be impaired or jeopardized" by the merger, the standard set by Virginia's Utility Transfers Act (staff testimony, p. 6). Staff said the deal "would expose DEV to the additional financial and business risks of NextEra's unregulated, competitive businesses," and that the companies' promises "are not sufficient" to make sure Dominion Energy Virginia keeps the resources it needs to serve customers (p. 6).

The recommendation is not a flat no. Staff said that if the companies agree to the extra requirements in Appendix A of its testimony, it would not oppose approval (p. 7). Those conditions include an independent Dominion Energy Virginia board of directors, a bankruptcy-remote special purpose entity, limits on the dividends the utility can send upstream, a requirement to keep Virginia employment at current levels for 10 years, a 10-year ban on consolidating operations at power plants or local district offices, and a follow-up review proceeding seven to eight years after closing (p. 7).

The deal on the table

Under the merger agreement, Dominion Energy shareholders would receive 0.8138 shares of NextEra stock for each Dominion share, plus a one-time cash payment totaling $360 million (pp. 30-31). The agreement was signed in May and the joint petition was filed with the SCC on July 15 (p. 4). Shareholders of both companies approved the deal on Sept. 3 (p. 32), and the companies told regulators they expect to close in the second half of 2027 if all approvals arrive (p. 33). Applications at federal regulators and in North Carolina and South Carolina remained pending as of the filing (p. 32).

NextEra, based in Juno Beach, Fla., owns Florida Power & Light, one of the country's largest utilities, and a large competitive energy arm known as NextEra Energy Resources. Staff's concern centers on that second business. As of Dec. 31, 2025, the competitive segment carried $65.8 billion in debt, 77% of its total capitalization, compared with 39% for FPL (p. 49).

What happens next

The SCC's hearing examiner and commissioners are not bound by staff's view. The companies can accept staff's conditions, contest them in rebuttal testimony, or offer alternatives. Monday's filing is Volume I of seven volumes of staff testimony, and the evidentiary hearing opens Nov. 17, according to the SCC's merger page.

The political money behind Dominion

Few companies have more at stake in Richmond than Dominion, and few spend more there. Virginia does not cap corporate political contributions. Records compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP) show Dominion's 20 largest Democratic recipients in the 2025-26 cycle took at least $8.42 million. That list includes Speaker Don Scott ($600,409), Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell ($600,000), Sen. Mamie Locke ($600,000), Del. Charniele Herring ($625,000) and Shannon Taylor's attorney general campaign ($775,000). Republicans were not left out: VPAP shows Dominion's top 20 GOP recipients took about $5.58 million in the same cycle, led by Attorney General Jason Miyares at $1.42 million.

The pattern holds over time. In 2023-24, the top 20 Democratic recipients took at least $7.15 million, VPAP data shows, and Virginia Scope reports Dominion has given nearly $18 million to Democrats and more than $15 million to Republicans since 2018. In federal races, Dominion Energy PAC gave $117,800 to Democratic candidates in 2023-24 and another $162,500 to Democratic PACs and party committees, according to OpenSecrets.

What would a Florida-run parent mean for that pipeline? That is a hypothetical, and the staff testimony does not address political giving at all. But if the combined company stopped or sharply cut its Virginia giving, Democrats would stand to lose at least $7 million to $8.5 million per two-year cycle from Dominion's top-20 recipients alone, plus roughly $280,000 in federal PAC money. NextEra has its own political action committee, so a merged company could keep giving under a different name.

This story will be updated with any response from Dominion, NextEra or the SCC.

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.