Virginia governor proposes six-year rate freeze for Dominion-NextEra merger approval

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger proposed a six-year freeze on residential base electricity rates if regulators approve Dominion Energy's $67 billion merger with NextEra Energy. Her office filed the condition with the State Corporation Commission as expert witness testimony.

The filing also asks regulators to raise the debt share of Dominion's capital structure from 48% to 60%, a change the witness, Richard McCann, says would lower the utility's allowed rate of return. Monthly bill credits would rise to $29 for four years, which Spanberger described Monday as a tripling of the credits on offer.

McCann, an environmental consultant with M.Cubed, presented the terms as prerequisites. "Unless these additional commitments are substantially addressed or alternative solutions are identified, the Commission should reject the joint petition," he wrote. The filing also seeks a "probability of dispatch" method for allocating costs, changes to disconnection policies, and further energy efficiency and clean energy commitments.

Virginia's attorney general and the commission's own staff have also filed conditions and oppose the deal unless their proposed terms are agreed to, Utility Dive reported. Dominion and NextEra proposed the merger in May, saying it would allow a more cost-effective buildout of Virginia's grid to serve rising demand from large-load data centers. They first offered $10 a month in credits for two years, then stretched the timeline to four years and added clean-energy assurances in line with the Virginia Clean Economy Act after pushback that included Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi.