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The Dunne Dispatch (Dominion-NextEra Merger) - November 12, 2026
Friends and Neighbors,
I am writing to express my unequivocal opposition to NextEra Energy's proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy for $67 billion (Case No. PUR-2026-00112). I was proud to work with Karl Frisch (Providence District) to lead the Fairfax County School Board to file formal comments this week opposing the proposed merger and urging the State Corporation Commission to reject it.
I am opposing the merger for four reasons.
First, Dominion has already announced its intention to increase the electric rates for Fairfax County Public Schools by nearly 25 percent, which will divert critical taxpayer dollars from the classroom to a monopoly utility that is earning record profits. This proposed rate increase is unacceptable and unprecedented. FCPS should not be forced to subsidize the rapid expansion of data centers across the Commonwealth.
Second, Dominion is failing in its mission to provide reliable electric power to our public schools. In recent months, FCPS facilities have averaged more than 100 power interruptions per month, which has forced FCPS to cancel classes and after-school programs at schools across the county. (Our emergency backup generators provide basic electric service for hallway lights, but they can't be used for heating, air conditioning, or refrigeration.) Even when a school stays open during a short outage, classrooms lose lights, smartboards, internet access, Wi-Fi, laptops, and climate control. Teachers have to stop lessons, move students to other rooms, or improvise without basic classroom technology.
Third, Dominion has prevented FCPS from expanding its use of solar power. FCPS had a plan to install solar at nearly 90 schools across the county, but Dominion imposed costly new interconnection requirements that made it cost-prohibitive to proceed with the installation. If the plan had been implemented, it would have saved taxpayers approximately $60 million over 25 years.
Fourth, Dominion has reduced its support for the procurement and operation of electric school buses. From 2019 to 2021, Dominion paid for, installed, and maintained fast-charging stations at FCPS bus depots and covered the associated utility grid upgrades. In addition, Dominion subsidized the purchase of 8 electric school buses. However, Dominion has largely eliminated its financial support for electric school buses and associated infrastructure. Dominion limits its support to school districts that win Federal bus grants, which receive fast-charging equipment, utility coordination, and installation support. (Dominion no longer covers the incremental cost of purchasing electric school buses.)
In the event that the State Corporation Commission approves the merger, Karl and I ensured that the School Board proposed binding and enforceable commitments, which would be paid by Dominion at shareholder expense without any financial recovery from ratepayers:
- $100 million for the procurement of electric school buses and associated infrastructure, to include bidirectional charging infrastructure so bus batteries can serve as backup power for school buildings.
- Prompt reporting and reconciliation of school power outages, to include root cause analyses and corrective actions.
- Publication of a Northern Virginia Grid Reliability Plan to address large-load data center growth and upgrade circuits serving public schools and critical facilities.
- Elimination of solar interconnection cost barriers, to include responsibility for direct transfer trip and protective equipment on public school and local government solar projects.
Very Respectfully,
 Mateo Dunne
Mount Vernon District Representative
The views contained within this newsletter reflect the views of the individual school board member who is the publisher of this newsletter and may not reflect the views of the Fairfax County School Board.
© Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax County, Virginia
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