Virginia Supplier Program: Comments Due Nov. 12

The Virginia supplier program that NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy put into their merger case is a proposal on paper, and the paper is short. It is one numbered paragraph in a two-page exhibit filed with the Virginia State Corporation Commission on September 14. The SCC has now given the public until November 12 to comment on the merger petition, three days later than the date in its original notice.

For a Virginia contractor, distributor or service provider, that paragraph raises more questions than it answers. The comment period is the open route for asking them in the record.

What the filing commits to

Commitment 7 of Supplemental Exhibit C reads, in full:

NextEra commits to create up to a $1,000,000,000 annual five-year Virginia Supplier Program establishing spending commitments with cost competitive contractors, suppliers, and service providers doing business in Virginia. Any costs for good or services associated with this program which are sought for recovery from customers will remain subject to review for reasonableness and prudence in future rate proceedings.

Three words in it carry most of the weight. The figure is a ceiling (“up to”). It is annual, for five years. And the vendors it reaches are “cost competitive” and “doing business in Virginia.”

NextEra CEO John Ketchum’s supplemental testimony, filed the same day, describes it in similar terms. The combined company “expects to spend up to $1 billion annually over a minimum of five years,” and the commitment “will encourage additional companies to establish a meaningful physical presence in the Commonwealth so they can compete for this work” (printed page 7).

Their joint release that day also says “up to a $1 billion annual, five-year Virginia Supplier Program.” A same-day op-ed by the two CEOs, filed with the SEC as a Rule 425 communication, says “up to a $1 billion, five-year Virginia Supplier Program” without the word annual. That release states that if there is any inconsistency, the commitments in the regulatory filings, as approved by regulators, govern. So the filed exhibit is the text to read, and it says annual.

What the Virginia supplier program does not settle

Read against the filing, the supplier program is a spending ceiling and a stated purpose. Commitment 7 does not define:

• what “doing business in Virginia” means, or whether a sales office, warehouse or Virginia subsidiary qualifies
• what “cost competitive” means, or how it would be tested
• whether spending already going to Virginia vendors counts toward the ceiling, or only new spending
• how spending would be reported, to whom, and how often
• which equipment, construction or service categories it covers
• what happens in a year when spending comes in under the ceiling

It also does not say the program is shareholder-funded. The same exhibit says that of other commitments: the $100 million workforce development fund and the $100 million energy assistance contribution will be “entirely funded by NextEra shareholders” and not recoverable from customers. Commitment 7 says the opposite kind of thing. Program costs sought from customers stay subject to prudence review in later rate cases.

None of this is a defect in a filing at this stage. It is the list of things a comment can ask the Commission to pin down before the commitment becomes a condition.

How to comment by November 12

The SCC’s July 21 Order for Notice and Hearing set November 9 for written comments (ordering paragraph 11). On October 9, while granting late participation motions from PJM and its market monitor, the Commission extended “the deadline for any interested person or entity to submit written comments on the Joint Petition to on or before November 12, 2026.” The SCC’s case page, updated October 13, lists November 12 as the last day.

Comments go through the SCC’s public comment form for Case No. PUR-2026-00112. Anyone unable, as a practical matter, to file electronically may mail comments to the Clerk’s Document Control Center under the July 21 order, and every comment must refer to the case number.

Other participation dates in the case are separate:

• November 2: last day to register as a public witness for the telephonic hearings on November 5, 9 and 10. The SCC also lists in-person public witness testimony in Richmond on November 5, 2 to 5 p.m.
• November 17: the evidentiary hearing begins.
• September 11 (passed): the deadline to file a notice of participation as a respondent. A written comment does not make you a party.

The Commission also used the full extension the statute allows. Ordering paragraph 19 extends its review period by an additional 120 days under Code section 56-88.1. The companies’ release says they expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2027, and every commitment in the package is contingent on approval and closing.

What a vendor can actually do with this

A comment does not get anyone onto a vendor list, and the filing sets up no enrollment process to join. What it can do is put a specific question into the record while the commitment is still a proposal, which is when the Virginia supplier program’s terms can still change. For a Virginia firm that already sells into utility capital work, the useful questions are the ones in the list above, asked with your own facts: where your people and inventory sit, what you supply, and what a definition would have to say to include or exclude you.

Keep the planning side separate. The ceiling is not an order book, and neither commitment 7 nor the testimony describing it allocates spending to any equipment class or vendor. We walked through the broader buyer read on the combination in the NextEra Dominion merger procurement reset. A separate SCC large-load ruling, covered in Virginia makes data centers pay for their own substations, answers a different question: who pays for facilities built to serve one large customer.

The Feeder is our free weekly briefing for utility equipment buyers and suppliers. Subscribe to The Feeder to get the next one in your inbox.

Related Reading

• NextEra Dominion Merger: A Procurement Reset
• Virginia Makes Data Centers Pay for Their Own Substations
• EPA Power Plant Rule Repeal: Nov. 2 Comment Deadline

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the proposed Virginia supplier program?

It is commitment 7 in the supplemental merger commitments NextEra and Dominion filed with the Virginia SCC on September 14, 2026 in Case No. PUR-2026-00112. NextEra commits to create 'up to a $1,000,000,000 annual five-year Virginia Supplier Program establishing spending commitments with cost competitive contractors, suppliers, and service providers doing business in Virginia.' It is a proposed merger condition, not an approved program, and it depends on the merger being approved and closing.

When are written comments due in the Dominion-NextEra merger case?

November 12, 2026. The SCC's July 21 Order for Notice and Hearing originally set November 9. An October 9 order extended the deadline for any interested person or entity to submit written comments to on or before November 12, 2026. Comments must refer to Case No. PUR-2026-00112.

Is the supplier program paid for by NextEra shareholders?

The filing does not say so. Commitment 7 states that costs for goods or services associated with the program that are sought for recovery from customers remain subject to review for reasonableness and prudence in future rate proceedings. Other commitments in the same exhibit, such as the $100 million workforce development fund, are expressly described as entirely funded by NextEra shareholders.

Does submitting a public comment make a supplier a party to the case?

No. Formal participation as a respondent required a notice of participation filed on or before September 11, 2026 under the July 21 order. A written public comment is a separate route and does not make the commenter a respondent.