Virginia legislators push for 360-day review window for $67 billion Dominion-NextEra merger deal

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Sen. Jeremy McPike and more than a dozen other legislators have renewed calls for Gov. Abigail Spanberger to call a special session focused on the State Corporation Commission's timeline to review the proposed Dominion and NextEra Energy merger — a $67 billion deal that would reshape the energy industry across several states.

Catch up: Where the proposed $67B Dominion-NextEra merger stands 3 months later

"I mean, the SCC's got staff, but they don't got that much staff on how much caseload they have that's going on right now. It's incredible the amount of pressures that all Virginians are facing across the board on top of the merger, and so the state corporation commission needs to hear Virginians on this," McPike said.

In a letter sent to the governor, the bipartisan effort centers on extending the SCC's review window beyond its current 180-day limit.

"Right now they have 180 days, and I think an additional 180 days is appropriate. Certainly, that's up to the General Assembly special session in terms of the duration of time. But certainly, the due diligence and effort this requires is critical, and you only got one chance to get this right, and it's going to impact all of the Commonwealth of Virginia," McPike said.

Republican Delegate Joe McNamara argues the existing rules did not anticipate a merger of this scale.

"I think Governor Spanberger's intent to intervene in the proposed merger is not a satisfactory solution to protect Virginia ratepayers. Virginia has a non-political defined process with the SCC to evaluate these exact type of events. The problem is when we set these rules in place for this evaluation, we didn't contemplate the largest merger, electric merger in the history of the United States," McNamara said.

McNamara says the bottom line is doing everything to protect Virginia ratepayers.

"I think the risk is too high, and unfortunately, the people that are rolling the dice and are going to be on the receiving end of that risk are the rate payers. If the SCC does not need the additional time, then they certainly don't need to use it. But let's give them all the resources, all the time necessary to make sure this is in the best interests of our Virginia ratepayers," McNamara said.

Spanberger has previously said her priority is shielding Virginia ratepayers from any risks associated with the merger. On the question of a special session, she said she is currently confident the SCC has the time it needs.

"What I have heard from the SCC is that at this moment in time, it appears that there is sufficient time for them to be able to review everything, and so you know certainly things are subject to change in the future. My priority is not extending a discussion; it is having a deep, purposeful, very detailed discussion about the potential outcomes of this merger," Spanberger said.

The SCC has 180 days to review the merger, with a deadline in January. Without an extension, if a decision is not made by January, approval would be automatically granted.

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