Attorney General Jay Jones told state regulators Friday that they should reset the 180-day review time period for the $67 billion Dominion Energy-NextEra Energy merger proposal, after the companies unveiled expanded conditions of the deal last week.
On Sept. 14, Dominion and NextEra jointly filed supplemental documents to the State Corporation Commission outlining new additions to the proposal, including extending residential customers’ bill credits to four years instead of two.
The companies also pitched five-year job protections for Virginia staff working on the project, instead of 18 months and a promise of a new office tower in downtown Richmond.
In the filing, NextEra CEO John Ketchum said several stakeholder hearings since the original filing of the case on July 15 prompted the changes that could make the deal more attractive.
Clock starts for state regulators to review proposed Dominion-NextEra merger
“The Supplemental Merger Commitments… address the comments we have heard and propose to provide greater immediate customer benefits, headcount commitments, meaningful economic development initiatives…” Ketchum stated in the supplemental filing on Sept. 14.
Jones filed testimony on Sept. 18 arguing that the changes are significant enough that they should be considered an amendment to the initial proposal and that the 180-day countdown clock should be reset to start with the Sept. 14 filing.
He stated that the 180-day limit for the SCC to consider the case should be reset to the date of the supplemental filing to allow proper time for intervenors to review the new details, allow for the public to be engaged, and for any additional interested parties to file as intervenors in the case.
“The Joint Petitioners have put a different deal on the table,” Jones’ testimony read.
Because the companies’ supplemental filing was submitted the first business day after the deadline to file as an intervenor in the case, Jones said, it “raises serious notice concerns.”
“Case participants cannot simply take the Joint Petitioners at their word that these new proposals are unqualified benefits that will accrue to Virginia ratepayers and citizens,” Jones said in his filing.
A proposal of this magnitude, Jones said, and the new conditions “prompt meaningful questions that must be asked through the discovery process to build a full evidentiary record about these commitments’ impacts” to the public at just and reasonable rates.
As it currently stands, the SCC must make their final decision on the merger by Jan. 11, which would mark 180 days after the filing date of the initial proposal.
If regulators approve Jones’ request to restart the 180-day merger review period from Sept. 14, the case would be ongoing during the regular General Assembly session, which begins in January.
Several lawmakers have pushed for a special session in order to pass a measure to extend the statutory deadline of reviewing the case to be longer than the 180 days.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger has refused to call a special session and the General Assembly, which is in an active special session, has not taken steps to convene, either,
If the SCC sides with Jones, a final decision on the merger case could be expected in March.
