Statement of Senator Mark Obenshain on Governor Spanberger’s Op-Ed

In a Washington Post editorial, Governor Abigail Spanberger criticizes the proposed merger between Dominion Energy and NextEra and expresses concern about its impact on affordability, reliability, Virginia jobs, and our energy future.

But this merger did not create Virginia’s energy problems. It exposed them.

The proposed merger deserves a thorough, independent review by the State Corporation Commission, and whether it is ultimately approved should be decided on the facts, the law, and the public interest—not politics.

What Governor Spanberger’s editorial overlooks, however, is that the very policies she and her legislative allies have championed helped create the financial and regulatory conditions that made a transaction of this magnitude increasingly foreseeable.

For years, Republicans warned that the Virginia Clean Economy Act’s arbitrary mandates, restrictions on reliable generation, and Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative would drive up electric bills, strain reliability, and force utilities into unprecedented capital expenditures. Those warnings were dismissed. Today, Virginians are paying the price.

Natural gas did not suddenly become prohibitively expensive. Coal did not suddenly become prohibitively expensive. What has become extraordinarily expensive is the generation portfolio state government has required utilities to build. Offshore wind, utility-scale solar, battery storage, transmission upgrades, and the premature retirement of reliable generating resources require tens of billions of dollars in investment. Those costs do not disappear. They are ultimately borne by Virginia’s families and employers.

At the same time, Virginia has made it extraordinarily difficult to build the dependable, dispatchable natural gas generation needed to meet rapidly growing demand. The result has been predictable: increasing reliance on imported electricity delivered through massive, expensive transmission lines crossing Virginia communities instead of producing more reliable power here at home.

For decades, Virginia has benefited from having a strong, Virginia-based investor-owned electric utility. I have long believed that preserving that connection serves the Commonwealth’s interests. That’s precisely why many of us warned that these policies would place extraordinary financial and regulatory pressures on Dominion and make some form of major restructuring—or even a merger with an out-of-state company—increasingly likely. None of us wanted to see that happen, but it was a foreseeable consequence of the course Virginia chose.

When government requires a regulated utility to invest tens of billions of dollars in mandated generation and infrastructure, it should surprise no one that the utility seeks greater access to capital. That is not a mystery—it is the predictable consequence of the policies state government has imposed.

If Governor Spanberger truly wants affordable and reliable electricity for Virginia families, she should join those of us who have long called for repealing the arbitrary mandates of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, withdrawing Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and restoring an all-of-the-above energy strategy that prioritizes affordability, reliability, and common sense.

Governor Spanberger’s Washington Post editorial asks Virginians to scrutinize this merger. She’s right—they should. But if she’s to be taken seriously, she should also urge Virginians to scrutinize the energy policies that made a proposal like this increasingly foreseeable. Unless Virginia changes course, this merger will not be the last predictable consequence of those policies.