Fairfax Schools Oppose $67B Dominion Merger, Cite Rising Bills, Power Outages

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — The Fairfax County School Board is urging Virginia regulators to reject the proposed $67 billion merger between Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy, citing rising electricity costs, frequent power outages at schools and obstacles to a solar energy initiative intended to save taxpayers millions of dollars.

In a public comment letter to the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the board raised concerns about the proposed acquisition's potential impact on Fairfax County Public Schools and the families it serves. School Board members Karl Frisch (Providence District) and Mateo Dunne (Mount Vernon District) spearheaded the letter.

The board's opposition comes as FCPS faces a projected 24.9 percent increase in electricity costs. During a Wednesday work session, school officials learned that the Virginia Energy Purchasing Governmental Association had recently notified the division of the impending increase, according to a Thursday news release from Frisch.

Rising Electricity Costs And School Power Outages

The School Board's letter argues that the proposed merger could expose Fairfax County families and taxpayers to additional costs associated with expanding electrical infrastructure to accommodate Northern Virginia's growing data center industry.

The board cited findings by SCC staff that the companies had not demonstrated that the proposed transaction meets Virginia's Utility Transfers Act requirements for maintaining adequate service at just and reasonable rates.

Although the merger proposal includes temporary customer bill credits, the board warned that residential customers could face years of infrastructure costs driven by data center expansion.

"Many Fairfax County families are already choosing between the electric bill and the grocery bill, and this deal asks them to underwrite the data center boom for an out-of-state company," Frisch said.

The board also pointed to reliability problems affecting FCPS facilities.

According to the release, schools and other division facilities have experienced an average of more than 100 power interruptions per month over the past year. Those outages have forced program cancellations and resulted in approximately $100,000 annually in electrician overtime expenses.

"Our schools are losing power more than 100 times a month, and when the lights go out, students lose programs and taxpayers foot the bill," Dunne said. "Control of this utility shouldn't change hands without enforceable commitments to keep our schools running and real investment in electric buses that can double as backup power when the grid goes down."

Solar Energy Savings At Risk

The School Board also raised concerns about Dominion's requirements for connecting solar installations to the electrical grid.

According to Frisch, those requirements have made solar installations at Fairfax County schools significantly more expensive, threatening an initiative projected to save taxpayers $60 million.

"Dominion's interconnection rules have made solar on our schools so expensive that a plan to save taxpayers $60 million is in serious jeopardy," Frisch said. "If the companies want this merger, they should commit to tearing down that barrier, not increasing the bills of families already struggling to make ends meet."

The board also questioned the proposed merger's implications for electric school buses.

Dominion previously assisted FCPS in launching its first electric buses, but the company's involvement has since diminished, according to the release. The board said the merger proposal contains no commitments to support future electric school bus initiatives.

School Board Seeks $100 Million For Electric Buses

Although the School Board urged regulators to reject the merger, it outlined four conditions it wants imposed if the SCC approves the transaction.

The board called for the companies to fund the measures through shareholder resources rather than passing the costs along to customers.

Those conditions include:

1. Electric school buses: Commit $100 million to electric school buses and resilient charging infrastructure, including technology that would allow bus batteries to provide backup electricity to school buildings during outages.
2. Outage reporting: Regularly reconcile power outage records with FCPS and other school divisions and report school facility outages to the SCC.
3. Northern Virginia reliability: Submit a regional reliability plan addressing increased electricity demand, sudden data center disconnections and improvements to electrical circuits serving schools.
4. Solar energy access: Eliminate cost barriers associated with connecting solar installations and battery storage systems at public schools and local government facilities.

The School Board submitted its comments in SCC Case No. PUR-2026-00112. The public comment deadline was 5 p.m. Thursday.

Other Northern Virginia Communities Challenge Merger

The Fairfax County School Board's opposition adds another local government voice to the debate over the proposed merger, which would create the world's largest regulated electric utility if approved.

As Patch previously reported, the companies announced the transaction in May and filed for regulatory approval in July. The combined company would serve approximately 10 million customer accounts across Virginia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Dominion and NextEra have argued that combining their operations would provide greater financial resources and purchasing power to meet growing electricity demand. Their original proposal included approximately $1.78 billion in customer bill credits for Virginia customers over two years.

A September amendment extended the proposed customer credits from two years to four years, according to reporting by the Florida Phoenix published by Patch.

The proposed merger has drawn scrutiny from state and local officials.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger announced in August that her administration would formally intervene in the SCC proceeding, citing concerns about electricity affordability, utility jobs and Virginia's clean energy goals.

The Arlington County Board subsequently voted to intervene in September. Arlington and Alexandria later entered into a joint representation agreement to coordinate their participation in the case, arguing that the interests of local residents and businesses should be considered before regulators approve the acquisition.

The regulatory review has also included questions about NextEra's previous business activities in Florida. In October, an SCC hearing examiner allowed discovery of certain documents related to an internal investigation of NextEra's unsuccessful attempt to acquire Jacksonville's municipal utility. The examiner said the commission would ultimately determine whether the information could be admitted as evidence.

The SCC has not issued a final decision on the proposed acquisition.