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A massive merger between Dominion Energy and NextEra may lead to discounted bills for customers, but Virginia ratepayers would receive credits for double the time of their Palmetto State counterparts.
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Virginia Dominion customers will receive an average $10 monthly bill credit for four years if the megamerger is given all necessary approvals, according to a Monday news release. The utilities previously planned two years of bill credits but said it would double the deal for Virginia customers.
There is no indication South Carolina will receive the same treatment.
“From the start, we’ve focused on and will continue to focus on benefits across the states where Dominion Energy operates,” said Neil Nissan, a spokesperson for NextEra, in an email. “Each state’s needs and regulatory reviews are different. We’ll continue listening and responding to the issues that matter most in each jurisdiction.
“The announcement earlier this week reflects the priorities we’ve heard in Virginia and should not be viewed as a template for every other state,” Nissan continued.
The average residential customer in South Carolina would see a $10 discount on their electric bills monthly for two years if the deal receives all approvals, according to regulatory filings. The amount of the bill credit would vary by energy usage.
The doubled credits for Virginia customers come “in direct response to feedback from policymakers and other stakeholders,” Dominion Energy and NextEra wrote in a joint news release Monday.
“The package is organized around the priorities Virginians have made clear: affordability, jobs and building more clean energy and battery storage faster to decrease reliance on expensive imports,” the news release said.
If the merger is approved, the utility would also inject $100 million into Virginia’s energy bill assistance program through 2038, according to the news release.
In South Carolina, several environmental and consumer protection groups have voiced concern about how the merger will impact customers’ power bills. State leaders haven’t opposed or supported the deal as publicly as in Virginia.
Gov. Henry McMaster said he didn’t know all the details about the merger earlier this month.
“I’d say anything that brings the price down and has a steady supply of electricity for our people is a good thing,” McMaster told reporters Sept. 11. “And the question is exactly: what is this merger? What would it do?”
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South Carolina’s utility regulators, the Public Service Commission, will evaluate whether the deal will be good for consumers in the state.
State House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, and Senate President Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, both intervened in the case. The powerful lawmakers did not take a position on the merger but supported a six-month deadline for the case to be settled. The Public Service Commission later agreed to the six-month timeline, which would require regulators to make a decision by January 2027.
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, raised questions about the deal publicly in May. State Sen. Tom Young, R-Aiken, also wrote to the Public Service Commission in August requesting the regulators evaluate the long term benefits of the merger to customers.
“Given the financial pressures already facing many families, seniors, and small businesses, South Carolina ratepayers deserve assurance that any merger involving a major utility provider resulting in the largest regulated electric utility in the world will result in meaningful and lasting benefits for customers,” Young wrote in a letter filed in the PSC docket.
Some Virginia lawmakers have pushed to change their state law and give regulators more time to scrutinize whether the megamerger will benefit the public.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger also asked to intervene in her state’s regulatory proceedings to determine whether the merger is in the public interest.
“As a Virginian, I am deeply skeptical about whether selling our primary, state-regulated utility to an out-of-state company is good for the commonwealth,” Spanberger wrote in an August editorial. “I have serious questions about what this deal would mean for us. And as governor, I intend to get answers and be a voice for Virginians in the process.”
The $67 billion merger would create a huge utility, servicing 10 million customers across Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. It would impact about 820,000 South Carolina customers in the Midlands and Lowcountry.
A spokesperson for Dominion Energy in South Carolina deferred to NextEra when asked about whether South Carolina customers would receive a similar deal. A voice mail left for Dominion Energy asking about whether the benefits would extend to South Carolina customers was not immediately returned.
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Joseph Bustos contributed reporting to this article