A coalition of solar and storage companies has filed testimony opposing the proposed merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy, arguing that the combination would pose an unacceptable risk to competition in Virginia.
The Storage and Clean Energy Coalition (SCEC) said in its filing that it opposes the merger as proposed, and that its central concern is how a combined company could affect the growth of renewable energy in the state. The group wrote that the utilities say nothing about competition in the procurement of generation resources, in competition from distributed energy resources, or in competition to supply non-wire alternatives to traditional utility infrastructure investment.
Lindsey Hallock, interconnection policy director at Permit Power, an SCEC member, disputed the companies' assurances to regulators. She said the claim that the merger would not affect competition does not hold for a Virginia family trying to lower its bills by generating and storing its own electricity at home. According to Hallock, the utilities maintain policies that make it time-consuming and expensive to connect home solar and batteries to the grid, and the commission should require interconnection reform as a condition of the merger, including automated interconnection processing and authorization of meter socket adapters that reduce the cost of home solar and storage.
SCEC also argues that the already-long interconnection queues at both utilities would worsen if the two merged. It is asking them to adopt interconnection automation tools for residential and small commercial projects and to permit meter sockets, which can prevent the need for main service panel upgrades, to speed the process.
The coalition further cited NextEra's political influence, pointing to the role of its Florida Power & Light utility in pushing legislation that would have substantially reduced rooftop solar compensation for residential customers at a time when very few households had rooftop solar.