Have you ever left a store, realized you were WAY overcharged, and thought, ‘Eh. I guess it’s their money now. I hope they buy something nice for themselves. They deserve my money.’ Of course not—that’s ludicrous. But that is just what Dominion Energy expects us to do.
Dominion Energy Overcharges Its Customers and Doesn’t Have to Pay Them Back
Dominion Energy has overcharged Virginians by $502.7 million since 2017. The utility monopoly is even accused of creating artificial ‘crises’ to justify price gouging just before the State Corporation Commission (SCC) reviews its rates. Sometimes mistakes happen (though this seems pretty premeditated.) Dominion should just return the money to the customers—send a check or apply it to a bill. Makes sense to me. But no. Instead, Dominion is rolling in the money (our money) from years of profit on the backs of hard-working folks.
Dominion is a state-regulated monopoly but right now the law in Virginia allows them to keep most of those over earnings. Meanwhile we—especially Black and Brown households—are struggling with some of the most expensive electricity bills in the nation. And that was before COVID-19 devastated our communities. It’s not like we had much choice—as a monopoly Dominion has a chokehold on our region, supplying power to two-thirds of Virginia households. While many of our neighbors struggle to put food on the table and keep the lights on, Dominion tried (unsuccessfully!) to build a massive, destructive pipeline to further demolish our communities. I guess they have the money for it.
Tell Dominion To Give You Your Money Back
Our lawmakers need to require Dominion to return the money stolen from us. People are struggling just to survive. Covid-related utility debt could be relieved with this money and the rest returned to the customers and businesses they overcharged throughout the years.
I don’t know about you, but I want my money back. And I want my neighbor’s money put back into their pockets, not padding portfolios of utility shareholders.
Email your legislator today and demand utility accountability. Tell them we want Dominion Energy to return more than $500 million owed to our community through direct refunds and utility debt forgiveness.