Sen. King urges FERC to reject $67 billion NextEra-Dominion merger

(UI) — U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, is urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject NextEra Energy's proposed $67 billion acquisition of Dominion Energy, arguing the transaction would concentrate unprecedented control over generation and transmission assets while posing significant risks to competition and electricity consumers.

In comments filed with FERC, King said the combined company would become the nation's largest electric utility, controlling approximately 110 gigawatts of generation, nearly 10 million customer accounts and a substantially larger footprint within the PJM Interconnection market.

"The combination would create the largest electric utility in the United States, concentrating an unprecedented mix of merchant generation, rate-based generation, and transmission assets in the hands of a single company," Sen. King wrote.

King pointed to NextEra's opposition to the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) transmission project as evidence of what he described as a pattern of anticompetitive behavior. He wrote that NextEra spent more than $20 million supporting a 2021 Maine ballot initiative that delayed the hydropower transmission line and also financed organizations later fined by the Maine Ethics Commission for concealing the company's involvement. The senator further cited a federal appeals court decision that characterized NextEra's refusal to approve a required interconnection upgrade at its Seabrook nuclear plant as "anti-competitive" and "hardly consistent with 'good business practices.'"

King argued the proposed acquisition would expand NextEra's ability to influence wholesale electricity markets by combining merchant generation, regulated utility assets and transmission infrastructure under one company. He also questioned whether the merger's proposed $2.25 billion in customer bill credits would adequately address broader competition concerns.

"The proposed merger would multiply both the opportunities and incentives to repeat this demonstrated conduct on a far larger scale," Sen. King wrote.

The filing urges FERC to reject the application under Section 203 of the Federal Power Act or, at a minimum, require structural remedies rather than relying on behavioral conditions. King argued that the commission should weigh NextEra's past conduct when determining whether the merger is consistent with the public interest.

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