SELC statement on settlement agreement in Dominion Energy rate case

RICHMOND, Va. — Today Dominion Energy, Virginia’s State Corporation Commission (SCC), and the Office of the Attorney General filed a tentative settlement agreement in Dominion’s pending base rate case, the first time the SCC has reviewed the rates Dominion charges its customers since 2015. The utility has overcharged its customers during that time by $1.2 billion. In response to the announcement, SELC Senior Attorney Will Cleveland released the following statement:

“By requiring Dominion Energy to refund $330 million to its customers, the settlement agreement the utility reached this week would refund nearly as much money to customers as Virginia’s utility-friendly laws would allow. But Dominion has overcharged its customers by $1.2 billion since 2015. As long as our laws continue to allow Virginians to overpay, even productive settlements like this one will fall short of the least-cost transition that our Commonwealth must make to a zero-carbon electricity grid by 2050.”

The Southern Environmental Law Center submitted expert testimony to the SCC recommending that Dominion be required to pay $372 million, the full amount permitted under the law, on behalf of Appalachian Voices.

Because Dominion is a monopoly, no competition exists to drive its prices down, and Virginians rely on the SCC to ensure customers pay only what is fair and necessary for safe, reliable power. The SCC’s oversight is also critical to achieving a zero-carbon grid by 2050, as mandated by the Virginia Clean Economy Act. Virginian households currently average the sixth highest electric bills in the country.