February 7, 2023 — After the House Commerce and Energy Committee last week gutted Dominion Energy’s sweeping proposal for changing the way it is regulated, the state Senate on Monday trimmed a key section of the same measure.
The issue is the profit rate the electric monopoly is allowed to earn — an important element when the State Corporation Commission reviews its rates.
But in the background, as the Senate action made clear, is Dominion’s concern about financing its $9 billion offshore wind farm.
The clue comes in an amendment to the Dominion bill proposed by Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City: a time limit on the bill’s directive that the SCC must use the average profit rate of large southeastern utilities as the profit rate it allows for Dominion.