Dominion pulls a fast one on legislators and the public

When you make a deal with someone, you can’t just unilaterally change the terms of the contract after the fact just because you want more money.

Or at least, you and I can’t. Dominion Energy, however, is being a real Becky and betting that it can do just that.

The company pushed through a major revamp of electric utilities in 2018 which could cause customers’ bills to surge, while practically guaranteeing that Dominion’s rates won’t go down.

How’d they do that? By agreeing to submit a plan to spend $870 million on energy efficiency programs to state regulators over the next ten years. That plan originally aimed to help the poor and cut the number of new power plants needed.

But now the company says that money should include lost revenue from decreased electric usage. If regulators get on board, it would mean a $350 million cut in spending on energy efficiency programs.

Governor Northam and fellow legislators indicated that it was clear to them that the $870 million number was not to include lost revenue. The company even bragged about the $870 million number in public statements while promoting the law, conveniently excluding the fact that they’d spend far less than that on the energy efficiency programs themselves.

So yeah, Dominion’s being a real mean girl about this. And for what it’s worth, the company has $100 billion in assets.