State regulators are currently considering an application from Dominion Energy to merge with Florida-based NextEra Energy. Members of the General Assembly may be about to return to the Capitol to ask that regulators have more time to consider the deal.
The State Corporation Commission has six months to make a decision about a potential merger between Virginia’s largest utility, Dominion Energy, and Florida-based NextEra Energy. And that six-month deadline is not enough time, says Lieutenant Governor Ghazala Hashmi. She says she supports a special session to give regulators more time.
"It does require a special session," Hashmi says. "It requires legislation to make that happen, and I do support having a special session to be able to grant the SCC the necessary length of time that our commissioners, and their staff, and all of our attorneys need in order to review this acquisition and make sure that it is in the best interest of Virginians."
The proposed merger would create the largest utility in the United States, an unprecedented multi-billion-dollar transaction during a time when people are struggling to pay their energy bills.
"I think that this size of a transaction needs to be looked at in more than six months," says Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell. "It was proposed by the House and the governor in the last budget; it didn't make it through, but I supported it. And I continue to support it. But the only way to do it is a special session, and I don't know whether we're going to do that yet or not."
So far, Governor Abigail Spanberger hasn't said what her position is on the merger or extending the timeline or even whether she’ll call for a special session. A spokeswoman for the governor says she’s considering the options.
