Dominion-NextEra merger: SCC hears arguments on Clean Virginia motion to compel

RICHMOND, Va. — For the first time in the proposed merger between Dominion Energy and NextEra, arguments over Clean Virginia's motion to compel were heard in public Tuesday.

At issue is whether NextEra must provide additional information requested by Clean Virginia as the State Corporation Commission considers the proposed $67 billion sale of Dominion Energy.

Watch: Clean Virginia dispute over Dominion-NextEra merger information heads to SCC hearing

The joint petitioner attorney for Dominion Energy and NextEra argued with Clean Virginia's attorney over whether the SCC and the public should receive more documents and information before a merger decision is made.

Clean Virginia attorney Greg Habeeb said NextEra's conduct is directly relevant to the proceeding.

"The behavior of the party acquiring Virginia's largest electric utility is clearly relevant to evaluating the any potential impairment or jeopardy," Habeeb said.

One request involved documents related to allegations of political misconduct in Florida. But NextEra's attorney, Joseph Reid, argued those allegations should not turn the merger case into a trial within a trial.

"The Federal Elections Commission has not found any wrongdoing by Nextera in either Florida or South Carolina. Criminal investigations in Florida around political misconduct did not result in any charges against company employees," Reid said.

Reid warned that producing the requested documents could derail the proceedings.

"We would turn this case into a mini trial over all of these different allegations....which would be a circus, and frankly, it would keep us here till Christmas," Reid said.

Habeeb pushed back on that concern.

"Well, heck, if it takes till December to get it right, let's take till Christmas to get it right," Habeeb said.

One of Clean Virginia's specific requests is for NextEra to turn over what is known as the "Robo Memorandum." Reid offered context on the document.

"I would just like to add a little bit of context here from the public domain, Your Honor, to the extent that the robo memorandum suggests that Mr. Robo authored, the former chairman authored this would would would be inaccurate," Reid said.

Reid described the document as "a package of materials that was sent to Nextera by a consultant Matrix," and explained the circumstances surrounding it.

"The context it was in the context of a business blowup of Matrix, where the founder and the CEO parted ways acrimoniously. There was active litigation between those two parties when this, you know, what has been termed in the public, this whistleblower package of materials was sent to Nextera," Reid said.

Reid said the company investigated the allegations and found no evidence of wrongdoing.

"It has no relevance to this case and there is no reason to to open it up to discovery and Pandora's box about allegations that ultimately did not result in in any finding of wrongdoing," Reid said.

Another dispute centers on how promises made as part of the merger would be enforced. Habeeb argued that conditions without enforcement mechanisms are meaningless.

"If you're going to propose conditions without proposing the enforcement mechanism, it's an it's an irrelevant condition," Habeeb said.

Reid said the SCC itself would serve as the enforcement authority.

"The commission would haul us in and say, 'Why are you not in compliance? And direct us to comply,'" Reid said.

Before pursuing Dominion, NextEra attempted to acquire two other utilities — JEA in Jacksonville, Florida, and Santee Cooper in South Carolina. Both deals ultimately failed. Clean Virginia wants to know how those campaigns were conducted and whether similar costs could eventually be passed on to Virginia ratepayers.

Reid argued that documents about NextEra's prior attempts to acquire Santee Cooper and JEA are not relevant to this case.

"Ultimately, JEA pulled the plug and decided not to sell the utility. And there was a request that how much did you spend in that effort, and the amount was disclosed," Reid said.

NextEra disclosed it spent $23.6 million on Santee Cooper and $2.6 million on JEA, but said none of those costs were borne by Florida Power and Light customers.

Clean Virginia is also seeking information about Matrix LLC, a political consulting firm NextEra acknowledges was hired by its Florida Power & Light subsidiary from roughly 2017 to 2020. NextEra said Matrix provided research, communications, messaging, and strategic advice.

Reid said the joint petitioners answered that inquiry and provided the contract with Matrix, but argued further disclosure is not warranted.

"We did supplement this response to provide the contract with Matrix, and so I think what is remaining from Clean Virginia's request would be to go further and provide statements of work, invoices, payments, and all work product exchanged between Nextera, Matrix, etc. And there's a relevance objection to that. You know, we we tried to be marginally helpful there by providing the contract, but this is this is irrelevant, and we don't believe that the answer needs to go any further," Reid said.

Reid said Dominion and NextEra have responded to more than 2,200 questions and provided information they believe is relevant to the case.

Habeeb urged the commission to allow a fuller examination before any decision is made.

"Let us discover the veracity of the claims, the integrity of the people behind those claims, and the enforceability of those claims before this commission," Habeeb said.

At stake is how much information Virginia regulators and the public will have before making a decision on a deal that could reshape the state's electricity landscape.

SCC Hearing Examiner Mathias Roussy said he will make a decision on the motion to compel as soon as he can.

The SCC is still set to decide on the proposed merger in January.

Three in-person public hearings on the merger have been scheduled:

• October 7, 2026, from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Christopher Newport University Freeman Center (Gaines Theater), Newport News, Virginia 23606
• October 9, 2026, from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Fairfax County Government Center (Board Auditorium), 12000 Government Center Pkwy, Fairfax, Virginia 22035
• November 5, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. at 1300 E. Main St., Richmond, Virginia

CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.