The Company Buying Dominion Energy Ran Ghost Candidates, Surveilled Journalists, and Co-opted the NAACP. The SCC Commissioner Judging the Deal Used to Work There.
May 22, 2026
Disclaimer: This is an analysis of public records. I am not a financial advisor, I am not a lawyer. Verify the sources yourself.
TLDR
NextEra Energy is acquiring Dominion Energy in a $66.8 billion all-stock deal announced May 18. The combined company would be the largest electric utility on Earth. Here is what public records show:
SCC Commissioner Kelsey Bagot was a Senior Attorney at NextEra Energy. She promised to recuse from NextEra matters. If she does, only 2 commissioners decide a $66.8 billion merger. SCC deliberations are exempt from FOIA.
Dominion spent $8.3 million on Virginia elections in 2025, including $2.1 million trying to defeat Jay Jones for Attorney General. Jones won anyway and refused Dominion money. But SCC commissioners are still elected by the same legislators who take Dominion contributions.
NextEra's Florida subsidiary ran ghost candidates to siphon votes from legislators it wanted to defeat, surveilled journalists, co-opted the NAACP for $50,000 per month, and operates a secret invite-only bar for lawmakers. It just settled a securities fraud class action for $150 million.
NextEra's FPL just got the largest rate hike in U.S. history ($6.9 billion). Its profit margin is 27.4%, the highest of any U.S. utility. It disconnected 1.3 million Florida homes in 2024.
The $2.25 billion in bill credits are temporary. Two years at roughly $9.40/month. After that, Virginians face a company whose Florida subsidiary hasn't had a rate hike denied since 2010, and where commissioners who voted no were ejected from office.
No single news outlet has connected Dominion's Virginia political machine to NextEra's Florida scandals in one story. Pieces have been reported by the Energy and Policy Institute, Clean Virginia, E&E News, WVTF/NPR, Loudoun Now, Common Dreams, and others (sources at bottom).
Infographics: NextEra Florida rap sheet: https://files.catbox.moe/vg94fu.png | Money pipeline diagram: https://files.catbox.moe/n5560e.png
(End of TLDR)
1. The SCC Commissioner Who Used to Work for NextEra
The SCC has three commissioners, elected by the General Assembly. They will decide whether this merger goes through. The SCC is constitutionally exempt from FOIA. Deliberations are secret. Commissioners are elected by the same legislators who took $8.3 million from Dominion in 2025.
Kelsey Bagot was a Senior Attorney at NextEra Energy immediately before her April 2024 SCC appointment. During her confirmation, Senator Russet Perry (D-31) raised concerns. Bagot assured the General Assembly she would recuse from matters involving her former employer. If she recuses, only two commissioners decide a $66.8 billion deal.
Former SCC Commissioner Mark Christie, who Bagot worked for at FERC, now sits on FERC itself, which must also approve this merger.
2. Dominion's Virginia Political Machine
Virginia has no limits on corporate campaign contributions. Dominion spent $8.3 million on Virginia elections in 2025, splitting contributions across 75 candidates in both parties. It is not partisan. It is transactional.
AG Jay Jones defeated incumbent Jason Miyares in November 2025. Jones refused Dominion money, ran on challenging utility monopolies, and was endorsed by Clean Virginia ($325,000). His office is the statutory consumer advocate for ratepayers. This is good news. But Jones cannot fix the SCC alone.
In 2015, Dominion wrote SB 1349, which froze its own rates and stripped the SCC of authority to order refunds for six years. During the freeze, Dominion shifted costs to riders that bypassed base rate review.
Dominion disconnected 339,000 Virginia households in 2024. Among 23 states reporting data, Virginia had the highest disconnection rate. About 25% of Virginia households face an energy affordability crisis. Dominion stuck ratepayers with coal ash cleanup costs ($3.30/month for 20 years) after arguing it "was not breaking the law by storing coal ash."
3. NextEra's Florida Rap Sheet
NextEra is bringing a documented pattern of corruption to Virginia. Several items are settled or confirmed by court records.
Ghost candidates (2019-2020): FPL recruited and funded non-competitive candidates with the same last names as Democratic legislators. State Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez lost re-election by 32 votes after a ghost candidate named Alex Rodriguez pulled 6,382 votes. FPL CEO Eric Silagy wrote: "I want you to make his life a living hell... seriously." He resigned in 2023.
Journalist surveillance: Operatives obtained journalist Nate Monroe's Social Security number and tracked his vacation movements.
NAACP co-optation: FPL donated at least $225,000 to the Florida NAACP (2013-2017). State president Adora Nweze used FPL talking points in testimony, then invoiced FPL $50,000 monthly. She told the New York Times: "I felt that if we wanted the money, we had to do it."
Secret Tallahassee bar: An exclusive, invite-only bar behind a nondescript facade for lawmakers and lobbyists.
Anti-solar fraud and bribery: FPL spent $8 million backing a deceptive ballot measure to throttle rooftop solar. Operatives offered a Jacksonville City Council member $180,000 salary plus $50,000 travel to resign and support FPL's utility takeover. He declined.
Securities fraud settlement (2026): NextEra paid $150 million over false statements about FPL's political activities. The 11th Circuit overturned a dismissal by Judge Aileen Cannon.
$60.8 million in Florida campaign spending from 2010-2025. The last rate hike denial was 2010. Four of five commissioners who voted no were ejected within a year. Every rate request since has been approved unanimously.
4. What This Means for Your Electric Bill
The $2.25 billion in bill credits (79% to Virginia, roughly $1.78 billion) works out to about $9.40/month per residential customer. It expires after two years.
After that, Virginians face a utility whose Florida subsidiary has a 27.4% profit margin (highest in the U.S., vs. 14.6% average), the largest rate hike in American history ($6.9 billion), and a regulatory body that hasn't denied a rate increase in 16 years. Dominion's own rate increases ($11.24/month in 2026, $2.36/month in 2027) are already approved. Combined company debt: $138.8 billion.
Clean Virginia called the credits "a down payment on political goodwill, not a guarantee of affordability."
5. The Data Center Cross-Subsidy
Northern Virginia is the world's largest data center market. Data centers could reach 50% of Dominion's revenue.
Dominion's new GS-5 rate class (effective January 2027) tries to wall off data center costs. But the $64.7 billion infrastructure buildout cannot be fully isolated from ratepayers. The PJM capacity auction price increased 833% this year ($28.92 to $269.92 per MW-day), driven by data center demand. These costs are socialized.
In Florida, FPL gave data centers a 50% discount on base bills and lowered take-or-pay requirements from 90% to 70%. If data center demand falls short of projections, residential customers are the backstop.
6. What You Can Do
The SCC will hold public hearings. NextEra expects to file in July 2026. The SCC has 60 days to act (extendable by 120 days). Public testimony matters. The standard of review is Virginia Code Section 56-90: the SCC must find that "adequate service to the public at just and reasonable rates will not be impaired or jeopardized."
Contact your state delegate and senator. Ask whether they will return Dominion campaign contributions before voting on SCC commissioner appointments.
Clean Virginia: https://www.cleanvirginia.org | Energy and Policy Institute: https://energyandpolicy.org
Note on executive stock sales: Seven NextEra executives sold a combined $17 million in stock during Q1 2026, all under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans adopted between August and December 2025. When merger negotiations began has not been publicly disclosed. The stock did drop on announcement of the merger. The pre-arranged trading plan is above board. All Form 4 filings have been verified against SEC EDGAR.
Sources
NextEra press release (May 18, 2026): https://newsroom.nexteraenergy.com/2026-05-18-NextEra-Energy-and-Dominion-Energy-to-Combine
Energy and Policy Institute (NextEra-Dominion merger): https://energyandpolicy.org/nextera-dominion-merger/
Energy and Policy Institute (Dominion VA political spending): https://energyandpolicy.org/dominion-energy-spending-in-virginia-elections-nears-all-time-high/
Clean Virginia statement: https://www.cleanvirginia.org/2026/05/18/nextera_dominion_proposed_merger/
Loudoun Times-Mirror (Bagot confirmation): https://www.loudountimes.com/article_b29f76c4-bb12-11ee-a904-cf824272f0e4.html
Florida Phoenix (FPL rate hike): https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/20/psc-approves-contentious-7-billion-rate-hike-for-florida-power-light-customers/
Cardinal News (VA disconnections): https://cardinalnews.org/2025/08/22/virginia-has-one-of-the-highest-utility-disconnection-rates-in-the-nation-the-data-center-boom-will-make-things-worse/
Floodlight/Miami Herald (ghost candidates): https://floodlightnews.org/florida-gop-ghost-candidate/
NYT (NAACP/FPL co-optation): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/05/business/energy-environment/naacp-utility-donations.html
Palm Beach Post: https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/2020/03/05/charities-take-fpl-money-back-fpl-rate-hikes/112243704/
Henrico Citizen (VA credit share): https://www.henricocitizen.com/what-dominion-and-nextera-energys-proposed-merger-means-for-virginia-customers/
Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/nextera-energy-buy-dominion-668-billion-us-power-deal-2026-05-18/
E&E News: https://www.eenews.net/articles/sign-of-the-times-nextera-dominion-merger-would-create-utility-giant/
WVTF/NPR Virginia: https://www.wvtf.org/news/2026-05-18/critics-attack-dominions-planned-merger-with-floridas-giant-electric-utility
Common Dreams: https://www.commondreams.org/news/nextera-dominion-merger
SEC EDGAR Form 4 filings (NEE insider transactions, verified May 22, 2026)
Consumer Energy Solutions (PJM auction): https://consumerenergysolutions.com/pjm-capacity-auction-skyrockets-833-is-this-going-to-affect-energy-pricing/
Food & Water Watch: https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/11/20/desantis-psc-approves-fpl-rate-hike-largest-in-u-s-history/