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Virginia

State commission must approve no rate increase for Dominion Energy customers in 2024

Rebecca Barnabi
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A comprehensive settlement submitted yesterday is pending approval by the State Corporation Commission in early 2024.

According to the settlement, Dominion Energy Virginia customer rates are substantially below the national average.

Multiple parties were involved in the settlement, including Virginia Electric and Power Company (Dominion Energy Virginia or DEV), a subsidiary of Dominion Energy, Inc., the SCC staff and the Office of the Attorney General.

“I am pleased that the Commission Staff, the Attorney General, and other key parties were able to come together constructively and propose a resolution to our biennial review here in Virginia that is fair and reasonable and will allow Dominion Energy to continue delivering on our mission to provide reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy to power our customers every day,” said Ed Baine, president of Dominion Energy Virginia.

In addition to the Commission Staff and Office of the Attorney General, the agreement is joined by Appalachian Voices, the Data Center Coalition, the Department of the Navy on behalf of the Federal Executive Agencies, Google, Harris Teeter, the Virginia Committee for Fair Utility Rates and Walmart.

The Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington, Direct Energy, Microsoft and the Virginia Poverty Law Center are not opposed to the agreement. Key components include no change necessary to base rates. Overall customer rates remain 16 percent below national and 22 percent below regional averages.

The settlement also concluded that base rate earnings for 2021 to 2022 were within the authorized earnings band; an authorized return on common equity of 9.70 percent for the upcoming period is consistent with governing legislation; and $15 million in one-time credits to customer bills by Sept. 30, 2024.

Dominion Energy supplies electricity or natural gas to approximately 7 million customers in 15 states. With headquarters in Richmond, The company is committed to providing reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy every day and to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050.

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca J. Barnabi is the national editor of Augusta Free Press. A graduate of the University of Mary Washington, she began her journalism career at The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star. In 2013, she was awarded first place for feature writing in the Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia Awards Program, and was honored by the Virginia School Boards Association’s 2019 Media Honor Roll Program for her coverage of Waynesboro Schools. Her background in newspapers includes writing about features, local government, education and the arts.