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Virginia Lieutenant Governor Ghazala Hashmi has announced her opposition to NextEra’s proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy, citing concerns about protections for ratepayers after a five-city listening tour across the Commonwealth.
According to a press statement from her office, Hashmi concluded that the proposed $67 billion transaction would not serve Virginians’ best interests after hearing from hundreds of residents and reviewing the proposal. Her office’s newly released Energy Costs Listening Tour Report outlines the public sessions, their findings, and participants’ concerns.
“Virginians are already struggling with the cost of keeping the lights on, and they deserve certainty that this takeover will not leave them paying even more,” said Hashmi. “After listening to Virginians from different backgrounds across the Commonwealth and closely reviewing this proposal, I have concluded that it does not provide the protections Virginians demand and should not be approved.”
Her office held listening sessions throughout September in Loudoun County, Norfolk, Richmond, Charlottesville, and Roanoke. Residents discussed their experiences with rising electricity costs and raised questions about the proposed acquisition, which the statement described as potentially the largest utility transaction in U.S. history.
The tour was part of Virginia’s Voices, a community outreach initiative launched by Hashmi’s office in January 2026 to give residents opportunities to share their views on issues affecting their lives and communities.
Local elected officials, energy and merger experts, and community representatives joined Hashmi during the sessions. Discussions focused on electricity costs, service reliability, future infrastructure investments, ratepayer interests, and the potential long-term effects of placing Dominion Energy’s Virginia utility under a larger, Florida-based parent company.
According to the statement, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network participated throughout the tour, documenting residents’ comments and helping bring their concerns before the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
The listening sessions followed Hashmi’s earlier calls for closer scrutiny of the acquisition. In a June 2026 opinion article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, she advocated for a stronger review process. In July, she sent the commission a letter urging it to seek answers from Dominion Energy and NextEra to 64 questions about the proposal.
Her office said Hashmi also reviewed presentations to the Energy Commission of Virginia, consulted energy and industry experts, and examined analyses of the transaction before reaching her decision.
Hashmi’s opposition centers on what she considers insufficient safeguards for ratepayers and the risks of transferring control of Virginia’s largest electric utility to a larger corporate parent based outside the state.
“Virginia’s largest utility serves customers who cannot simply choose another provider,” said Hashmi. “That makes the stakes of this decision extraordinarily high. Virginians should not be asked to accept permanent risks in exchange for temporary promises. The risks are too great and the protections are not enough. This takeover should not move forward.”
According to the press statement, the report concludes that the proposal does not sufficiently demonstrate that adequate public service at just and reasonable rates would be protected, as required under Virginia law. Hashmi is urging the State Corporation Commission to reject the transaction.
The full Energy Costs Listening Tour Report, including minutes from all five public sessions, is available at VAEnergyTour.com.
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