By Kennedy Maize
In a bid to save their controversial $67 billion merger, Virginia-based Dominion Energy, the seller, and Florida’s NextEra Energy, the buyer, have agreed to accept many of the conditions the staff of the Virginia State Corporation Commission laid out last month as needed to protect consumers. The merger would create a mammoth company, serving some 10 million customer accounts.
The two companies also rejected a demand from Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger that the merged company freeze rates for six years.
The two Fortune 500 companies Tuesday (Nov. 3) announced that they have “have filed rebuttal testimony with the Virginia State Corporation Commission strengthening their proposed combination with additional customer and financial protections.”
The SCC’s staff on Oct. 19 opposed the merger in a 201-page filing, concluding that “the Petitioners have not met their burden to prove that ‘adequate service to the public at just and reasonable rates will not be impaired or jeopardized.’” In an 11-page appendix that is part of the total filing, the staff detailed 57 conditions the SCC should impose, which encompass many specific action items.
In their joint news release, the two utilities said, “Of the 117 conditions proposed by the Commission Staff and the Consumer Counsel, the companies have accepted 101 conditions as proposed and another 13 conditions with enhancements or modifications.”
The utilities’ decision to accept major portions of the SCC staff’s objections came as both companies were unveiling their third quarter 2026 earnings.
NextEra reported a strong third quarter: $2.592 billion in earnings, or $1.24 per share, compared to $2.348 billion, or $1.13 per share, in the third quarter of 2025. John Ketchum, NextEra chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, “NextEra Energy delivered strong third-quarter results, with adjusted earnings per share increasing 9.7% year-over year, reflecting continued strong financial and operational performance at both FPL and NextEra Energy Resources.”
FPL is Florida Power and Light, NextEra’s conventional monopoly generation, transmission, and distribution electric company. In terms of residential customers, FPL is the largest electric utility in the U.S. with about 5.34 million customers. It is the original and most significant business element of NextEra.
In 1984, FPL created a holding company named FPL Group, which began acquiring utility generating assets outside of The Sunshine State but in the South. In 1998, FPL created another holding company, FPL Energy, to reach assets outside the South, beginning with the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire in 2002. In 2010, FPL Group and FPL Energy rebranded themselves into NextEra Energy and NextEra Resources.
Dominion also reported strong third-quarter 2026 earnings: $1.2 billion ($1.30 per share) compared with net income of $1.0 billion ($1.16 per share) for the same period in 2025. The company said it is on target to hit the top half of it estimates for full 2026 earnings of $3.45 to $3.69 per share. 24/7 Wall Street noted that Dominion’s earnings beat “expectations for the seventh consecutive quarter. Revenue grew about 24% from a year earlier.”
In an online conversation with financial analysts, Dominion chair, president, and CEO Bob Blue raised the issue of the merger. “Looking ahead,” he said, “we believe we can accomplish far more on behalf of our customers together than we can apart.”
Dominion describes itself as providing “regulated electricity service to 3.6 million homes and businesses in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and regulated natural gas service to 500,000 customers in South Carolina. The company is one of the nation’s leading developers and operators of regulated offshore wind and solar power and the largest producer of carbon-free electricity in New England.”
Dominion Energy’s roots go back to 1909 when Frank Jay Gould (1877-1956), son of the 19th Century railroad baron Jay Gould, bought Virginia Railway & Power Company and Virginia Passenger & Power, changing the name in 1925 to Virginia Electric and Power Co., or VEPCO, a regulated monopoly, which remains the legal name of the Virginia utility operations.
In 1980, the company stopped calling itself VEPCO, instead preferring Virginia Power for its Virginia business and North Carolina Power for its Carolina line. Three years later, it became Dominion Resources and Dominion Energy in 1987.
While the deal did not require approval in Florida, the Virginia case is the main state event in a three-ring regulatory circus. Dominion owns regulated utilities in North and South Carolina. South Carolina testimony is due Nov. 18, hearings are set for Dec. 8, with a decision due Jan. 29. In North Carolina, hearings begin on Feb. 23.
The deal also faces scrutiny from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but those reviews are not likely to be controversial
The Quad Report, covering energy policy and politics