Imagine you live in a neighborhood with a homeowners association. You don’t get to choose whether to belong and you must pay whatever dues the association charges. Now imagine the HOA board announces that it’s considering merging with a much larger association in another state.

The board tells you the merger will create efficiencies, save money, and improve services. Maybe it will. But before you vote, you’d probably have a few questions. Will my dues go up? Will our neighborhood still have a say in how our money is spent? And who exactly benefits from this deal?

Those are essentially the questions Virginians should be asking about the proposed merger between Dominion Energy and Florida-based NextEra Energy.

Dominion isn’t just another company headquartered in Virginia. It provides electricity to millions of Virginians, employs thousands of people, and plays an enormous role in our economy. Decisions about its future have consequences for everyone who lives or does business here. This is why a merger of this magnitude raises legitimate questions about electric rates, Virginia jobs, and investments in our energy infrastructure.

In exchange for the exclusive right to serve customers in a particular area, electric utilities are subject to oversight by the State Corporation Commission (SCC), which is responsible for making sure rates are reasonable and service is reliable. It’s a system that depends on strong oversight and accountability to consumers. That makes the SCC’s review of this proposed merger especially important.

Speaker Don Scott raised some of these same questions in a letter to the SCC last month, emphasizing that affordability must be at the center of its review. Any potential benefits from the merger should go first to the customers who are already paying the bills, not simply to shareholders or corporate executives. That means more than promises about keeping rates low. It means enforceable, long-term commitments that protect residential customers from paying more because of the merger.

It also means making sure Virginians aren’t asked to subsidize operations in other states. NextEra has substantial operations in Florida, where hurricanes and other natural disasters can create enormous costs. Virginia customers should not be responsible for expenses incurred elsewhere simply because two companies have combined.

But I have concerns that go beyond what might happen to our electric bills in the immediate future.

Dominion already wields considerable influence in Virginia, both economically and politically. Its role in shaping energy policy and its longstanding relationships with state government have been debated in Richmond for years. Adding the resources of another major utility raises questions about whether regulators and policymakers will be able to exercise meaningful oversight over an even larger company. The public needs to have confidence that the rules are being written and enforced in their interests. The larger and more influential a utility becomes, the more important independent oversight becomes.

This merger is also being considered at a time when Virginia’s energy needs are changing dramatically. Northern Virginia is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers, and their electricity demand continues to grow. Meeting that demand requires significant investment in our electric grid. Residential customers and small businesses should not be left paying for infrastructure built primarily to serve some of the largest and most profitable technology companies in the world, regardless of who owns the utility. The SCC should require greater transparency about how these costs are allocated.

Beyond this, any merger must preserve Virginia’s clean energy commitments, protect our natural resources, and provide meaningful assurances about Virginia jobs and continued investment in our communities.

The SCC is an independent regulatory body, and it needs the time and information necessary to conduct a thorough review. I support Governor Spanberger’s decision to intervene in the proceedings to help ensure that Virginia consumers have a meaningful voice in the process. This review cannot be rushed, particularly when the long-term implications for consumers and regulatory oversight are so significant.

While mergers can create opportunities for investment and greater efficiency, those potential benefits need to be demonstrated, not simply promised. We should be asking whether creating an even larger utility will strengthen Virginia’s energy future or make it harder to protect the interests of the people who depend on it.

Virginia has spent years debating how to ensure that our utilities are accountable to the people they serve. We shouldn’t approve a merger that makes that job even harder. Dominion and NextEra should have to demonstrate that this merger will benefit Virginians, not simply ask us to trust that a bigger company will act in our best interests.