Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi continues to press her case for the State Corporation Commission to set up a thorough framework for the review process of the pending Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy merger before the official countdown begins.
“I believe that Dominion, NextEra, and their leadership teams share our goals of transparency and careful review. I am thankful for the leadership of Virginia’s Governor, her administration, our legislators, and our SCC Commissioners who are all determined to ensure we are committed to promoting and protecting the public’s best interests throughout this historic review,” Hashmi wrote in a letter to the SCC, in which she asked commission members to urge Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy to submit their merger application only after the utilities have fully answered a list of essential questions about the deal and its impacts.
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Hashmi, last month, made her case in an op-ed in The Times-Dispatch, writing that the current law requiring the SCC to conclude its review in six months is “simply not enough time to evaluate a $67 billion merger that would reshape Virginia’s electric utility landscape, affect millions of families, and impact the thousands of Virginians employed by Dominion Energy.”
The lieutenant governor’s position mirrors that of a coalition of 36 organizations representing consumer protection, environmental advocacy and industry groups who sent a letter to Gov. Abigail Spanberger and State Senate and House of Delegates leadership last month warning that the current framework for the SCC to review utility mergers is not built for something this big.
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The combined company would have a market cap at $249 billion, which would make it the largest regulated electric utility on the planet, and overall, the third-largest company in the energy sector, behind fossil fuel giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron.
The groups, in their letter, called on the governor and state legislators to extend the SCC’s review period to no less than 12 months for covered transactions of this scale, and to clarify the existing review standard to ensure it serves the public interest.
Hashmi, who was a state senator before being elected to statewide office last year, is on the same page, writing in her op-ed that “other states have taken a full year to assess similar deals. Virginia should, too.”
In her letter to the SCC, Hashmi wrote about the “concern around the sheer scale of the Dominion/NextEra merger and the unprecedented implications for their rising energy costs and daily lives.”
“As Lieutenant Governor, my first responsibility is to advocate for the well-being of Virginia’s families and businesses, many of whom are worried about how merger may affect their livelihoods. That’s why we must ensure that a thorough, deliberate review framework is firmly in place,” Hashmi said.
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Chris Graham
