by Steve Haner
The stories making the round last week about Dominion Energy’s bill increase for fuel were blatantly incomplete, as were Dominion’s communications on the matter. Here is what the utility and the well-tamed Virginia “news” media have not told you.
The $8 per month reported as the impact on a typical residential customer was just a sweetener, a loss leader even. The real pop to your wallet will come later if the State Corporation Commission approves Dominion’s application –- already blessed by the equally well-tamed General Assembly -– to finance the bulk of the unpaid fuel costs with bonds that could take a decade or longer to retire.
This will be the second time in just three years that the utility has taken the money you owe it for fuel and sold it off as a bond, claiming that it is “saving” you money despite the years and years of added interest expense.
Dominion’s application for its second round of “securitization” of uncollected fuel costs would have the additional charge hitting your bills early in 2027. You would be paying for the fuel and purchased power cost of last winter’s bitter cold spell all the way until 2041 under its most expensive proposal, a 15-year payoff. Under that proposal, bankers and bond holders would earn fees and interest (paid by you) of more than $500 million.
The initial increase that went into effect July 1, which was $8 for that typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours, covered the increased cost for the upcoming 12 months. Dominion split out another $1.1 billion in uncollected fuel costs from the two previous 12-month periods, blaming much of that on the cold winter.
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