CT's only nuclear plant could be sold. Why state leaders say customers 'are going to get crushed'
Connecticut and several other states want to pause Dominion Energy's $67 billion merger with NextEra Energy. Dominion owns the Millstone nuclear plant, which supplies nearly half of the state's electricity.
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Connecticut is asking federal regulators to pause a multibillion-dollar merger that could potentially raise your electric bill.
The state, along with several others across the east coast, is asking to intervene in Dominion Energy’s proposed $67 billion sale to NextEra Energy.
“GOING TO GET CRUSHED”
Connecticut has some of the nation’s most expensive electricity.
“Wow, horrendous,” said Giuseppe Conte, of Norwalk. “It’s outrageous.”
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is worried that the massive merger could drive rates even higher.
“Prices are going to go up and we are going to get crushed,” he said.
Dominion owns the Millstone nuclear plant in Waterford, which supplies nearly half of Connecticut’s electricity. Dominion wants to merge with Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources, owner of the region’s only other nuclear plant in New Hampshire.
“NextEra with Dominion would have a lot of purchasing power – monopoly power – in this region,” Gov. Ned Lamont said. “So one of the things I’m looking at is a long-term agreement that gives our folks rate certainty before we do anything going forward.”
Tong worries what NextEra would do with that “monopoly.”
“They’re going to sell power potentially to a data center, which jacks up the price on all of us because, ‘Oh sorry guys. The data center’s willing to pay more; you've got to pay more,’” he said. “‘We don’t have enough power because we sold that power to the data center, so you’ve got to go buy natural gas in the spot market,’ which right now, by the way, is super expensive.”
The combined company would be the world's largest regulated utility with 10 million customers.
NOT JUST CT
It’s not alone.
Several other states, including Massachusetts, South Carolina and Virginia (where Dominion is headquartered) are taking similar actions.
“NextEra has a troubling record of driving up energy bills and preventing Massachusetts from building the energy infrastructure we need to power our communities,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy said. “This merger would give this company tremendous leverage over our energy future. Federal regulators need to closely scrutinize what this would mean for customer bills, competition, and the reliability of our energy system.”
Lamont is concerned about the massive $67 billion price tag.
“If somebody overpays for the Dominion plant, I want to make damn sure that’s not going to go on the rate base and jack up people’s electric prices,” he said.
DOMINION: MERGER WILL SAVE MONEY
Dominion and NextEra argue that a combined company can save customers money – by lowering procurement and borrowing costs, plus consolidating operations. They are also promising $2.25 billion in bill credits spread over two years.
“We appreciate the Governor's and Attorney General’s commitment to and focus on affordability,” Dominion spokesman Ryan Frazier said in a statement. “Our contract with Connecticut electric utilities has saved customers hundreds of millions of dollars over the past two years. Nuclear power is the region’s most reliable, efficient and cost-effective form of electricity. We will continue working with lawmakers and policymakers throughout Connecticut and New England to ensure that nuclear power remains a viable option.”
NextEra did not respond to a request for comment.
Tong is skeptical.
“Yeah, there are efficiencies and economies of scale in letting Live Nation buy Ticketmaster,” he said. “How did that work out?”
POLITICAL ISSUE
High electric bills have become a top issue in this year’s race for governor – and Millstone’s future is critical to getting prices down. Nuclear power is cheaper and more reliable than natural gas, which Connecticut relies heavily on.
After Dominion threatened to shut the plant down in 2018, the state agreed to purchase half of the plant’s electricity. That deal expires in 2029.
The state is adding offshore wind and is exploring expanded nuclear, wind and hydropower, but those solutions could take many years.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Dominion shareholders are scheduled to vote on the acquisition on Sept. 3.
After that, the merger still needs federal approval from FERC, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Justice Department – plus utility regulators in Virginia and the Carolinas.
