Dominion, NextEra offer new merger protections; but will it save you any money?

RICHMOND, Va. — Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy have agreed to more than 100 proposed conditions as they seek approval for their $67 billion merger, but a key question remains: How much would the deal actually save Virginia customers?

The companies said in their latest filing that of the 117 conditions proposed by the State Corporation Commission Staff and the Consumer Counsel, they have accepted 101 conditions as proposed and another 13 conditions with enhancements or modifications, including additional financial safeguards designed to protect Dominion Energy Virginia from potential financial problems at its proposed parent company.

The concessions come after SCC staff recommended denying the proposed merger as it currently stands.

Among the new protections, Dominion and NextEra are proposing to add two independent board members, maintain Dominion Energy Virginia's approved equity ratio and establish bankruptcy protections that would take effect if NextEra's credit ratings decline.

However, the companies have not agreed to every proposed condition. They are rejecting a proposed three-year moratorium on certain rate increases and a 10-year job protection.

"[NextEra CEO John Ketchum] supports the Joint Petitioners’ five-year Virginia headcount commitment but explains that a decade-long restriction on centralization or consolidation could prevent DEV from adopting safer, more efficient, or more effective operating practices," the filing states.

Dominion CEO Bob Blue also pushed back on some of the conditions sought by parties involved in the case.

"The proposed transfer of control is not due to be denied simply because various intervenors' 'wish lists,' which I alluded to above, have not been satisfied," Blue said in his testimony.

But Ben Weintraut, a Ph.D. candidate at Duke University and affiliated researcher at Duke's Nicholas Institute who has testified before Virginia lawmakers, told CBS 6 that an important piece is still missing: a specific estimate of how much the merger could lower costs and a way to verify those savings afterward.

"What's kind of still missing is the part that would let anyone judge the merger on its merits, and that would be an estimate from the companies of how much it would lower costs as well as an agreed upon way to check that later on," Weintraut said.

That concern echoes an issue raised in an earlier filing from Gov. Abigail Spanberger, which pointed to the companies' acknowledgment that they had not prepared a standalone analysis assigning specific dollar values to the efficiencies they expect from the merger.

The companies have offered customers $10 in monthly bill credits for four years. However, they have not agreed to Spanberger's request for $29 per month or a six-year freeze on residential base rates.

For Weintraut, the issue comes down to establishing a clear way to hold the companies accountable for the savings they say the merger could produce.

"It's basically like asking the companies to do their homework and grade it too," Weintraut said. "So we need to establish what the rubric is before the merger would take place."

The latest merger filing comes less than 24 hours before an in-person State Corporation Commission hearing in downtown Richmond.

The Richmond in-person hearing is scheduled for Nov. 5 from 2–5 p.m. at 1300 E. Main St.

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