NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy filed rebuttal testimony with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, moving their proposed $67 billion merger forward. They agreed to accept 101 of the 117 conditions proposed by state regulators and the attorney general’s consumer counsel. They also proposed changes to 13 additional conditions.
The concessions are intended to address concerns about consumer costs and the financial independence of Dominion’s Virginia operations after the merger. The companies committed to provide residential bill credits funded by shareholders for four years. They also pledged $100 million to an energy assistance program and agreed to maintain Dominion’s current Virginia employee headcount for at least five years.
The filing is an effort to win support from skeptical regulators and politicians for a deal that would create the largest electricity producer in the United States. Investors are watching the transaction as a test of prospects for large-scale mergers in the highly regulated utilities industry.