Renewable Energy

Storage and Clean Energy Coalition Files Testimony Against Dominion–NextEra Merger

Maya LindqvistOctober 20, 20265 min read38 views

At a glance

  • A solar and storage industry coalition tells Virginia regulators the deal would harm competition and slow interconnection of home solar and batteries.
  • The Storage and Clean Energy Coalition has filed testimony opposing Dominion Energy's proposed merger with NextEra Energy, arguing it would weaken generation and distributed-energy competition in Virginia and lengthen interconnection queues. The group is asking regulators to mandate automated interconnection and meter socket adapters as merger conditions.
Concept illustration of rooftop solar panels and home batteries joined by a power line to a utility substation, with a balance scale at the center representing regulatory review.

The Storage and Clean Energy Coalition (SCEC), a group of solar and storage industry members, has filed testimony opposing the proposed merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy, saying the combination would harm competition in Virginia.

In the filing, the coalition states that the transaction “poses an unacceptable risk to the competitive landscape in Virginia” and opposes the merger as filed. SCEC said it is concerned the deal could slow the spread of renewable energy in the state.

Competition arguments

According to the testimony, the utilities are “entirely silent” on competition in the procurement of generation resources, competition in the form of distributed energy resources, and competition to provide non-wire alternatives to traditional utility infrastructure investment. The group disputed the companies' assurances to regulators that the merger would not affect competition.

Lindsey Hallock, interconnection policy director at Permit Power, an SCEC member, said that assurance does not hold for a Virginia household trying to lower its bills by generating and storing its own electricity. She said Dominion and NextEra policies make connecting home solar and batteries to the grid time-consuming and expensive, and called on the commission to require interconnection reform as a condition of the merger.

Requested conditions

  • Automate the interconnection process for residential and small commercial projects.
  • Authorize meter socket adapters, which the coalition says can avoid main service panel upgrades and speed projects along.

SCEC said long interconnection queues at both utilities would worsen if the two merged, and argued the proposed changes would shorten the process.

The testimony also points to NextEra's political activity, citing its Florida Power & Light utility's role in influencing legislation that would have substantially reduced rooftop solar compensation for residential customers at a time when few households had rooftop solar.

Reported by Maya Lindqvist, Solar Inverter and Charge Controller Specialist.