Tag Archives: Dominion

By Steve Haner

The long struggle to prevent Dominion Energy Virginia from earning excess profits in its base rates year after year appears to be over and consumers finally won.  That is the main takeaway as the first general review of its base rates since the 2023 regulatory re-write is moving toward a quick settlement.

The complicated changes in the regulatory structure included wins and losses for consumers, but the impact on this first rate case review is proving to be net positive for the 2.6 million customer accounts.  Most of the various parties who have been dissecting the company’s accounts and forward projections are now willing to end the case with a settlement.

Another reason the case is proving less contentious than previous reviews is that many important decisions – such as the company’s allowed profit margin for the future – were predetermined by the legislation.  The first ever politically dictated profit level will be 9.7% for the next two years, just as underlying interest rates elsewhere in the economy collapse.

A draft stipulation was filed by the parties November 14 with the State Corporation Commission. It leaves the utility’s base rates intact.  It also includes a $15 million rebate to consumers, perhaps $2 for a residential customer, which caused the Richmond Times-Dispatch to announce the deal with a banner front page headline.  Don’t spend it all in one place.  In fact, expect to spend it immediately on other parts of your Dominion bill, something the newspaper (again) failed to report.

The base rates are the largest element of Dominion’s bill but are only part of it.  The company continues to pay for many of its newer generation projects and non-generation programs with rate adjustment clauses that are separate from base rates, so the share customers spend on base rates is shrinking.

Stable base rates for 2024 or 2025 do not mean the total bill will not rise.  You also have to also watch those rate adjustment clauses.  As reported here just the other day, the rate adjustment clause dedicated to paying for Dominion’s offshore wind project may almost double next summer, another $4 per month for homeowners.  The so-called Rider OSW will likely rise again in 2025. Continue reading →

The SCC’s breakdown of Dominion’s energy price for a home using 1,000 kwh.  Click for clear view.

by Steve Haner

When the Virginia General Assembly passed a complicated electricity regulation change a few months ago, the Richmond Times-Dispatch parroted as fact this Dominion Energy Virginia claim in a front-page paragraph:

The compromise on electric bills — in legislation that passed nearly unanimously — would bring an immediate $6 to $7 cut in a benchmark 1,000 kilowatt-hour monthly bill, which now stands at $137.

Continue reading →

by Steve Haner

Dominion Energy Virginia’s customers still owe it $1.26 billion for fuel they have already used, as of the end of June.  The utility is going to give us either seven or ten years to pay off that debt, but at a total cost of over $1.54 billion if we take seven years or almost $1.7 billion if we take the full decade.

The difference, of course, is interest, a return on investment (profit) for the lender, almost $300 million on the seven year plan or $400 million on the ten year plan.  And that initial $1.26 billion already includes some interest.  It was clear from the beginning that extending this debt out like a credit card balance would produce a profit for the lender. Continue reading →