Richmond, VA -– Yesterday, the State Oversight Subcommittee of the Virginia Energy Commission convened at the General Assembly Building to receive expert testimony and public comment on the proposed merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra, the Florida-based energy conglomerate. Across the street, dozens of concerned ratepayers from across the Commonwealth, organized by the Stop NextEra coalition, turned out with signs and bullhorns to demonstrate their opposition to the controversial merger. Speakers cited the merger’s relative absence of financial and environmental safeguards, the rushed and secretive approvals process, and the likely costs of the merger for ordinary families already struggling to get by.

“This isn’t just a number on a bill to me…It’s the times we’ve had to keep the AC off during this extremely hot summer because we’re worried about how much it will cost. We can’t even feel comfortable in our own home anymore,” said Betsy Alvarado, Chesterfield resident and youth leader of We Are CASA. “We shouldn’t be put in a position where corporate growth comes before the financial stability of the people who actually live here…I’m not asking for special treatment. I’m asking for fairness.”

“I’ve learned how difficult it already is to hold Dominion accountable,” said Patrick Oxenham, a Dominion customer impacted by the Valley Link 765 kV project that places high-voltage energy transmission lines through rural communities. “Then they moved it ten feet off my property line, despite there being no homes for over a mile north of me. And after moving it, Dominion decided I no longer qualified as an ‘impacted landowner.’” Oxenham continued to urge Virginia lawmakers to consider the impact of giving more power to mega-utilities like Dominion and NextEra. “If the scales are already tilted, why would we put more weight on Dominion’s side? Virginia should be strengthening oversight. Protecting landowners. Empowering communities. And demanding innovation and technology that minimizes the impacts of the infrastructure we actually need. Better solutions — not bigger corporations…Virginia does not belong to NextEra. Virginia belongs to Virginians. And it’s time our government remembered who it works for and started making Virginians the priority again.”

“We need to spread the word and we need to carry the load,” said Melissa Thomas, Policy Director of the Climate Equity Working Group. “This is a Virginia fight: we need all of us here, and we need more than all of us here. If we can come together in the kind of diverse coalition that we see here today and bring that energy to the SCC, we will win this fight.”

Other speakers included Del. Josh Cole of the 65th District of Virginia, Victoria Higgins of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Betsy Alvarado of We Are CASA, Jessica Schneider of the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors, Clover District, Aileen Rivera of the Rt. 5 Corridor Coalition and Henrico Civic Action Network, Laticia Lee of Virginia Interfaith Power & Light, and members of the Singing Resistance RVA.

At the conclusion of the rally, rallygoers marched over to the General Assembly Building and gave testimony at the State Oversight hearing, where public sentiment was overwhelmingly opposed to the current iteration of the merger proposal.

Background:

• The Richmond rally, sponsored by the Stop Next Era coalition took place in front of Richmond City Hall from 12-1 on Tuesday August 18th, in advance of the meeting of Subcommittee #1: State Oversight of the Virginia Energy Commission. Photos and video may be obtained here.
• Current SCC timeline for merger hearings
• Governor Abigail Spanberger has indicated that she will formally intervene in the case, and the General Assembly is considering a special session ahead of the SCC’s deadline.
• NextEra’s proposed $67 billion merger with Dominion would create the largest regulated utility on earth.
• NextEra has unsuccessfully attempted to merge with several other state-regulated utilities (Hawaiian Electric, JEA in Jacksonville, Santee Cooper in South Carolina) and were denied in all cases on the grounds that the mergers would not have been in the public interest. Virginia’s SCC regulations do not contain the same “public interest” standard.
• In Florida, NextEra acquired Florida Power and Light, where they presided over the largest residential rate hike in US history, ranked second in the country in the number of residential disconnections, and were linked to dark‑money groups involved in “ghost candidate” schemes designed to manipulate state legislative elections, leading to a settlement with its own shareholders for the misconduct.