Edward Smith, edward.smith@sierraclub.org
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Yesterday, the Sierra Club told the South Carolina Public Service Commission (PSC) that the Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy merger must be denied because of the significant risk it poses to energy affordability for South Carolinians. The Sierra Club’s filing identified multiple ways the proposed merger could risk South Carolina families’ ability to receive electricity services at just and reasonable rates.
“This would be a bad deal for South Carolina families and businesses even if the utilities offered us the additional financial incentives it put on the table for Virginia customers,” said Paul Black, Sierra Club’s Senior Campaign Organizer in South Carolina. “The South Carolina Public Service Commission has a responsibility to regulate just and reasonable rates and services of monopoly utilities like Dominion, and this merger fails the public interest test the PSC is tasked to uphold.”
Dominion and NextEra have yet to demonstrate that benefits to customers, rather than shareholders, are a principal consideration for the merger. There is little evidence that the utilities conducted a thorough analysis of the potential customer risks or quantifiable benefits of a merger as compared to the status quo. Dominion and NextEra have offered no additional commitments to the PSC after proposing supplemental benefits in Virginia, leaving South Carolina customers with the short end of the stick.
Details of the proposed merger that show it is not in the public interest:
- the $387 million in bill credits over two years (~$10/residential customer) are eclipsed by a mega utility’s new long-term revenue requirements of $28-$38 million annually, meaning more money for shareholders without new services or permanent benefits to customers,
- a mega merger shifts costs from NextEra’s unregulated businesses from Florida customers to Dominion customers in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, and
- a mega merger means NextEra has an incentive to earn back the 23 percent premium it is willing to pay for Dominion, which promotes overbuilding capital expenditures, like new power plants, while disincentivizing lower-cost investments like energy efficiency, renewable energy and battery storage.
If approved, the merger of the two highly polluting utilities would result in the creation of the nation’s largest ever utility company, servicing 10 million customers across the Southeastern United States. Research has shown that concentrated corporate power costs U.S. workers more than $1 trillion in lost income annually as consumers pay higher prices and workers have fewer potential employers.
The next PSC hearing on the proposed merger will take place on November 5, 2026. Sierra Club staff are available for interviews to discuss the broad implications of the proposed merger.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.