(The Center Square) – Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi is urging Virginia regulators to require Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy to answer dozens of additional questions before the companies formally submit their acquisition application to the State Corporation Commission.
In a letter sent Monday to the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Hashmi recommended 64 questions covering customer rates, competition, financing, corporate governance and whether the merger would ultimately benefit Virginia customers.
In the letter, Hashmi said the proposed acquisition carries “unprecedented implications for Virginia’s consumers and regulatory landscape” and urged the commission to require Dominion and NextEra to answer “the essential questions needed to understand this transaction” before submitting their acquisition application.
Dominion and NextEra announced the proposed merger in May.
Under the agreement, Dominion shareholders would receive 0.8138 shares of NextEra Energy for each Dominion share they own, along with a one-time $360 million cash payment at closing. The companies also have proposed providing $2.25 billion in bill credits to customers in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina over two years after the transaction closes.
The companies have said the merger would create the world’s largest regulated electric utility business, improve access to capital, lower financing costs and enable additional investment in generation, transmission and grid infrastructure while maintaining a significant headquarters presence in Richmond.
Much of Hashmi’s filing questions whether the companies have provided enough evidence to support those projected benefits.
Among the recommended questions, the filing asks Dominion and NextEra to explain why they chose each other over other potential buyers or acquisition targets, whether the transaction is expected to improve electric service or lower costs for customers, and how each company will measure whether the merger is successful five and 10 years after closing.
The filing also asks the companies to explain how they determined the acquisition price, how Dominion’s exclusive retail electric franchise factored into the transaction’s valuation, and what assumptions they made about future earnings, electricity demand and capital investment.
Several proposed questions focus on the companies’ commitment to provide $2.25 billion in bill credits.
The filing asks how the credits would be funded, whether they are a short-term incentive to win regulatory approval rather than a benefit of the merger itself, and whether comparable customer benefits could be achieved without the transaction.
Other proposed questions address competition, financing costs, shareholder returns, executive decision-making, corporate governance, risks to customers and the companies’ histories of mergers and acquisitions.
Hashmi has previously called for a more rigorous review of the proposed acquisition, arguing regulators should fully examine its long-term effects on customers before approving the transaction.
The State Corporation Commission will decide whether to require Dominion and NextEra to answer the recommended questions before the companies formally submit their acquisition application. The merger also requires approvals from several state and federal regulators before it can close.