Dive Brief:
- Ahead of the Virginia State Corporation Commission taking up a review of NextEra Energy’s proposed merger with Dominion Energy, state Sen. Russet Perry, D, said SCC judge and former NextEra attorney Kelsey Bagot should recuse herself from considering the case, according to reporting from Loudoun Now.
- “Judge Bagot assured members of the General Assembly that she would recuse herself from matters involving her former employer,” Perry told Loudoun Now. “Given the extraordinary scale and significance of this proposed acquisition, I trust that commitment will continue to guide any SCC proceedings related to this transaction in order to help preserve confidence in the integrity and independence of the regulatory process.”
- SCC spokesman Greg Weatherford told Utility Dive in an email that it would be speculative for the three-member commission to comment on Chair Bagot’s involvement with that review, as “no application has been filed.”
Dive Insight:
“The Commission as a matter of policy does not comment on current or potential cases,” Weatherford said. “We are aware of public interest in this proposal.”
He noted that the commission makes these determinations public through its notices and decisions, pointing to an April 9 notice from Bagot recusing herself from considering a NextEra proposal before the commission as she had provided legal services to the MidAtlantic Resiliency Link Project in 2023.
NextEra and Dominion’s proposed merger would create the largest regulated utility in the world, with a 130-GW large load pipeline. Dominion’s service territory covers the part of Loudoun County referred to as “Data Center Alley,” and data center load growth in Virginia helped drive the state’s commercial electricity sales up by nearly 30 million MWh from 2019 to 2025, according to a May report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Perry represents Virginia's 31st Senate district, which includes western Loudoun County. Perry told Loudoun Now she objects to the merger itself, calling it “extremely concerning” in an environment of “rising utility bills and unprecedented grid expansion costs driven largely by hyperscale data center growth.”
In 2024, after Bagot was appointed to the commission, Perry told the Loudoun Times-Mirror that Bagot “will be required to recuse herself from any case involving NextEra Energy projects and has given her personal assurances that she will do so.”
Perry’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
