Governor Spanberger on CNBC: NextEra-Dominion Merger Must Have a “Clear Benefit to the People of Virginia”

RICHMOND, VA - Governor Abigail Spanberger today joined "Squawk Box" on CNBC to discuss her decision to intervene in the proposed $67 billion merger between Florida-based NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy - and underscored her focus on making sure Virginians have a voice throughout the process.

"It is extraordinarily important that the people of Virginia, our small businesses, our community members have a voice in this process," said Governor Abigail Spanberger. "Here in the Commonwealth, for a merger this size - wholly unprecedented in Virginia's history - it is important that Virginians know that there is someone advocating for their priorities throughout the entirety of the process."

Governor Spanberger continued, "I want to ensure that if there is to be financial benefit for these two companies to their shareholders, then there must also be financial benefit to the people of Virginia, the citizens and ratepayers."

The Governor's intervention in the proposed merger marks the first time a Governor of Virginia has taken such action at the State Corporation Commission (SCC). She announced her intention to intervene in an op-ed in the Washington Post last week.

Governor Spanberger also discussed her efforts to implement stricter environmental standards on data centers for their diesel generators and water usage. Additionally, the Governor highlighted her successful push for the SCC to require data centers to pay for new transmission infrastructure they require, which is projected to save Virginians hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Virginia has been, and will continue to be, a national leader in the requirements that we are putting on data centers that wish to come to the Commonwealth," said Governor Spanberger. "In legislation I signed just at the end of June, we put certain parameters in place related to noise pollution and water-related technology. There's much more to do because in this broader conversation, I intend to ensure that Virginia continues in our position of leadership because we can set a high nationwide standard for the expectation that we have for any large energy user, any large investor, that wants to come to a community."

Governor Spanberger continued, "Importantly, I pushed for the SCC, through the comments process, and ultimately the SCC ruled that for transmission allocation costs, those costs will go to the data centers, not to local ratepayers in a particular region. If there are new transmission infrastructure needs because of data centers coming to a particular area, the costs of that construction, needs to be borne by those data centers."

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