{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://vindman.house.gov/2026/08/27/vindman-hears-from-the-virginians-on-the-merger-between-dominion-energy-and-nextera-energy-80-are-opposed/", "Vindman Hears from the\u00a0Virginians\u00a0on the\u00a0Merger Between Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy, 80% are Opposed", "2026-08-27", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "House", "VA", "Eugene Simon Vindman", "V000138", "vindman.house.gov", "vindman", "https://vindman.house.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Congressman Eugene Vindman (Va.-07) heard from more than 950 Virginians in a district-wide survey, and the results were clear: respondents overwhelmingly oppose the merger between Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy.\n\n\u201cVirginians have made their voices heard loud and clear: they do not want a merger that puts corporate profits ahead of affordable, reliable energy,\u201d said Vindman. \u201cMore than 950 people in Virginia\u2019s Seventh District took the time to tell me that they oppose this deal. Many of them are deeply concerned about the impact it could have on their utility bills. I share their concern. Virginians should not be forced to pay more so that Wall Street investors can increase profits. The Virginia State Corporation Commission should listen to the people it represents and reject this merger.\u201d\n\nThe survey asked constituents whether they supported or opposed the merger and gauged their level of concern about potential increases in household utility bills. Earlier this month, Vindman sent a letter to members of the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) urging them to reject the proposed merger.\n\nBelow are responses submitted by Virginia\u2019s Seventh District residents who took the survey:\n\n\u2014\n\n\u201cLarge mergers never help the lower and middle class consumers.\u201d \u2013 Paul, Spotsylvania\n\n\u201cThis change would be a catastrophe for many individuals in this area.\u201d \u2013 Gwen, Prince William\n\n\u201cVirginia has enough local monopolies jacking up prices. This will only harm families that are already facing increased energy costs.\u201d \u2013 Tristan, Fredericksburg\n\n\u201cWe are already paying high utility bills and it would be hard to add more. A lot of people are already having problems bringing food to the table.\u201d \u2013 Rose, Prince William\n\n\u201cI oppose this merger. At a time when families are already being asked to absorb the costs, we need greater accountability and competition, not greater consolidation.\u201d \u2013 Kristen, Culpeper\n\n\u201cI\u2019m afraid a merger of energy companies this size will raise rates to where the average person will have a difficult time paying for energy.\u201d \u2013 Kevin, Caroline\n\nBACKGROUND\n\nNextEra is well-known for having implemented what many recognize as the largest residential electricity rate increase in history at the end of 2025. High energy bills already top the list of concerns for Virginians and Vindman has heard from hundreds of families who will not be able to endure record-setting rate hikes on top of their existing burdens.\n\nBetween May 2021-May 2026, Floridians who rely on NextEra\u2019s subsidiary, Florida Power & Light, have seen their utility bills rise by 33 percent.\n\nAs a founding member of the Congressional Lowering Utility Bills Caucus, Vindman has been a champion for bringing down utility costs.\n\nIn May, he introduced the Home Energy Affordability Act, legislation that would help protect consumers from repeated utility rate hikes by limiting electric utilities to one rate increase request every 365 days. This bill is based on a proposal that has received overwhelming support from constituents across Virginia\u2019s Seventh District and would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require states to consider policies restricting how often regulated electric utilities can seek rate increases.\n\nHe also introduced the Utility Hikes Transparency Act, legislation that would create the first comprehensive, machine-readable federal database of retail utility rate changes in the United States. The tracker would be updated quarterly which would include approved and effective electric and natural gas utility rate changes for investor-owned utilities, cooperatives, and municipally owned utilities nationwide.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-27T16:10:01Z", "2026-08-27T16:10:50Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://vindman.house.gov/2026/08/27/vindman-hears-from-the-virginians-on-the-merger-between-dominion-energy-and-nextera-energy-80-are-opposed/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5656780451536179, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}