Quick answer
The Virginia State Corporation Commission will hold a local public hearing on Oct. 7 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Christopher Newport University's Freeman Center in Newport News. The proceeding is part of Case No. PUR-2026-00112, the SCC's review of the proposed acquisition of control of Dominion Energy Virginia as part of the planned merger between Dominion Energy Inc. and NextEra Energy Inc. [1][2] The companies have proposed a revised Virginia benefits package that includes a $10 monthly residential bill credit for four years after the transaction closes. If a residential account received all 48 monthly credits, that would total $480. The proposal also includes an additional $100 million for Dominion's EnergyShare assistance program through 2038 and a commitment that customers would not be charged merger-related transaction costs. Those benefits are proposals tied to a pending transaction. They are not approved discounts currently appearing on customer bills. [3] The SCC hearing matters because Virginia law requires the commission to approve an acquisition of control of a regulated public utility. Under the Utility Transfers Act, the commission must be satisfied that adequate service to the public at just and reasonable rates will not be impaired or jeopardized by the transaction. [4][5]
What Is Actually Before The SCC
The SCC case is not a routine base-rate proceeding. It is a review of whether NextEra Energy may acquire control of Dominion Energy Virginia through the larger corporate combination.
Virginia law says a person or company cannot acquire control of a regulated public utility without prior approval from the State Corporation Commission. The law defines control to include acquiring at least 25 percent of voting stock or exercising substantial influence over a utility's policies and actions. [5]
The legal test is also narrower than the broader political debate around the merger. Section 56-90 of the Code of Virginia directs the SCC to determine whether adequate public service at just and reasonable rates would be impaired or jeopardized if the petition is granted. [4]
Dominion and NextEra filed their joint petition with the SCC on July 15. The SCC's merger information page lists the Newport News hearing on Oct. 7, a Fairfax hearing on Oct. 9, public-witness sessions in November, a Nov. 9 deadline for written comments and an evidentiary hearing beginning Nov. 17. [2]
What The $10-A-Month Proposal Means
The companies revised their Virginia package on Sept. 14.
Under that proposal, residential customers would receive a $10 monthly bill credit for four years after the merger closes. That is twice the duration of the two-year residential credit period originally proposed. The companies said they would seek to redirect part of the credit pool that otherwise would have gone to large-scale data-center customers toward additional residential relief. [3]
For a residential account receiving every monthly credit, $10 multiplied by 48 months equals $480.
The same revised package says NextEra and Dominion would add $100 million to EnergyShare through 2038, maintain current Virginia employee headcount levels for five years and continue to hold customers harmless from merger-related transaction, transition and acquisition costs. The companies also say Dominion Energy Virginia would retain its name, local leadership and separate regulation by the SCC. [3]
Those statements describe commitments the companies are asking regulators to accept as part of the transaction. The Sept. 14 announcement explicitly says the commitments are contingent on approval and closing, and that regulatory filings and any terms approved by regulators would control if there is a conflict. [3]
In other words, the proposed credits are relevant to the SCC's review, but they are not the same thing as an approved rate change.
How Hampton Roads Residents Can Participate
The Oct. 7 Newport News hearing is specifically for public comment. The SCC says it will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Christopher Newport University Freeman Center, Gaines Theater. [1]
The commission has also scheduled telephone public-witness sessions for Nov. 5, Nov. 9 and Nov. 10, plus an in-person public-witness session in Richmond on Nov. 5. The deadline to register as a public witness for the telephonic hearings is Nov. 2. Written comments are due Nov. 9. [2]
The SCC also maintains an online public-comment portal for the case. The commission warns that submitted comments are retained in the case file, provided to the applicant and accessible to the public through DocketSearch. [6]
That distinction is useful for residents deciding how to participate. A local hearing is an opportunity to give public testimony. A written comment becomes part of the public case record. The Nov. 17 evidentiary hearing is different: that is where parties to the case present evidence, testimony and legal arguments before the commission. [1][2]
What The Virginia Hearing Does Not Decide
The SCC is only one regulator reviewing the proposed merger.
Dominion and NextEra have said the transaction also requires approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under Section 203 of the Federal Power Act, approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, review under federal antitrust law, and approvals from utility regulators in North Carolina and South Carolina. The companies have said they expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2027 if the required approvals are obtained. [7]
That means the Hampton Roads hearing is not a referendum on the entire merger by itself, and it cannot substitute for the federal regulatory reviews.
It does, however, feed into a separate decision Virginia must make about control of Dominion Energy Virginia. For customers trying to follow the process, that division of authority is important: the SCC is deciding the Virginia utility-control question under state law, while federal agencies review issues within their own jurisdictions.
Why This Is A Household-Cost Story
The most concrete customer-facing element of the revised package is the proposed four-year residential bill credit.
A $480 total credit over four years would be easy to understand on a household budget. But the SCC's legal review is broader than that single number. The commission's statutory standard asks whether adequate service at just and reasonable rates would be impaired or jeopardized by the acquisition. [4]
That is why the merger case can involve questions about more than the initial credit package, including service, financing, utility governance, future investment and the conditions regulators may attach if they approve the transaction.
The public hearing gives Hampton Roads residents a formal venue to put their own concerns or experiences into the state record before that review reaches its evidentiary stage.
What Happens Next
The next major local date is Oct. 7 in Newport News.
After the local hearings, the SCC will continue accepting public participation through early November. Written comments close Nov. 9, and the evidentiary hearing is scheduled to begin Nov. 17. [2]
No final Virginia approval has been issued. The proposed $10 monthly credit and other Virginia commitments remain contingent on regulatory approval and the merger actually closing. [3]
For Hampton Roads customers, the clearest way to read the current status is this: the merger is pending, the customer-benefit package is proposed, and the state review is now moving into a phase where local public testimony becomes part of the record.
Sources
- Virginia State Corporation Commission, "SCC Schedules Public Hearings in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia on Dominion-NextEra Case," Sept. 22, 2026 — Virginia State Corporation Commission. Virginia State Corporation Commission, "SCC Schedules Public Hearings in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia on Dominion-NextEra Case," Sept. 22, 2026
- Virginia State Corporation Commission, "Dominion-NextEra Merger Updates" — Virginia State Corporation Commission. Virginia State Corporation Commission, "Dominion-NextEra Merger Updates"
- NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy, revised Virginia benefits package, Sept. 14, 2026 — NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy. NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy, revised Virginia benefits package, Sept. 14, 2026
- Code of Virginia § 56-90 — Code of Virginia § 56-90. Code of Virginia § 56-90
- Code of Virginia § 56-88.1 — Code of Virginia § 56-88.1. Code of Virginia § 56-88.1
- Virginia State Corporation Commission, "Submit Public Comments" — Virginia State Corporation Commission. Virginia State Corporation Commission, "Submit Public Comments"
- Dominion Energy, regulatory filing announcement, July 15, 2026 — Dominion Energy. Dominion Energy, regulatory filing announcement, July 15, 2026