Linda McLaughlin, who follows Dogwood on Instagram, called the idea of a Dominion-Next Era merger “sickening.”
The potential merger could put Virginians’ power bills, reliable service, and clean-energy commitments in the hands of a single corporate owner.
The changes originated with a $67 billion arrangement set to combine Dominion Energy, a Richmond-headquartered power and energy company, with NextEra Energy, a power and energy company out of Florida.
The two power companies looking to combine are promoting the merger as a way to build “a stronger company to meet growing power demand.” Meanwhile, critics are expressing concern about everything from previous failed deals in Hawaii and Texas to the potential for rate increases passed on to consumers.
While the State Corporation Commission (SCC)—a state agency that regulates public utilities, insurance, and more—looks into the details, residents across Virginia are making their opinions known about the potential merger. We asked how you, our Dogwood readers and social media followers, felt about the possible change.
The responses we received were overwhelmingly skeptical.
“I am opposed,” Lou Carlin wrote. “It’s not a good merger for Virginia. Virginia will experience the brunt of this merger with very little benefits. No! This merger is unlikely to fully [meet] our needs. They speak empty words like [President Donald] Trump.”
Some readers expressed concerns over the merger’s sole-ownership aspect.
Brenda Reed commented, “[The merger] creates a huge monopoly that will certainly increase rates, despite what their mouths are saying.”
Speaking about the possibility of a monopoly, Alessandro Trujillo noted that the changes could reduce workers’ wages, while bringing about an increase in both corporate profits and consumer prices.
Costs have already risen because of recent rate hikes. In July, Dominion started charging consumers a higher fuel rate, which averaged out to $8 more per 1,000 kilowatt-hours used. Critics of the merger anticipate that costs could continue to increase, despite what Dominion and NextEra committed.
Other commenters voiced broader frustrations.
Progressive advocacy group Neighbors4Change commented that the merger would be “terrible for Virginians.”
Lily Knol called the merger a “very bad idea.”
“Strongly against this!” MJ Ridzik wrote.
In May, news outlet CNBC called the Dominion-NextEra merger a “deal that unites two key players in [a] race to power AI data centers.” The article highlighted Dominion’s role in powering the world’s largest data center market in Northern Virginia, as well as Next Era being the largest utility in the S&P 500 by market value.
Robyn Castles, who follows Dogwood on Instagram, also brought the artificial intelligence aspect to the forefront, writing, “If we stop data center growth, we don’t need it!”
From concern to civic action
Talking about the potential merger is one way for Virginians to make their concerns heard. But there’s another method that helps actively bring about change—and that’s voting.
The proposed Dominion-Next Era merger isn’t one of the constitutional amendments appearing on Virginia ballots this fall. And Virginians don’t get to directly elect the members of the SCC, which will decide whether to approve the merger.
They do, however, elect the state lawmakers who choose the three SCC commissioners to oversee utilities and make decisions that can affect Virginians’ electric bills. (For example, one of the current commissioners, Kelsey Bagot, has a direct connection to Next Era. Prior to bing elected to the SCC by the General Assembly in 2024, she previously worked as a senior attorney at NextEra.)
Several legislators and hopefuls are speaking out with their opinions, including Del. Katrina Callsen (D-Albermarle), who called explicitly for an end to the merger and for the companies to be held accountable for its potential consequences.
Lt. Gov. Gazala Hashmi is also touring the commonwealth to raise awareness and hear Virginians’ concerns about the merger.
A decision about the deal isn’t expected until January 2027, but the time to act is now. The SCC is seeking public comment about the merger from Virginians just like you. The deadline to submit an opinion online to the agency is Monday, Nov. 9. There are also a variety of in-person and telephone opportunities scheduled through Tuesday, Nov. 10.
