Dominion Energy, SCANA Corporation complete merger

Dominion Energy, Inc. and SCANA Corporation announced Wednesday that they completed their proposed merger.

“Dominion Energy is pleased to add SCANA’s fast-growing, high-performing Southeastern businesses to our 18-state footprint,” Thomas F. Farrell, II, chairman, president and CEO of Dominion Energy, said. “Together, we are committed to providing safe, dependable, affordable and clean energy to the communities served by SCANA and to maintaining its excellent record of reliability and customer service.”

The merger expands Dominion Energy’s operations in Georgia and the Carolinas, where the company had already operated an electric utility serving 120,000 customer accounts in northeastern North Carolina, a 1,500-mile interstate pipeline principally in South Carolina and approximately 1,000 megawatts of gas, hydro and solar generating capacity across the three states.

SCANA Corporation will be a first-tier, wholly owned subsidiary of Dominion Energy. Its operating companies and its services company will be managed by a new operating segment, the Southeast Energy Group. This will be Dominion Energy’s fourth operating segment.

The merger also supports a new lower bill level for customers of South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G), an operating company of SCANA Corporation. The construction of two new nuclear units at V.C. Summer, a project that has since been abandoned, had increased the typical monthly bill for an SCE&G electric customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours to more than $147. The merger enables a plan that provides bill relief and lower bills to approximately $125 per month.

Dominion Energy has committed to a freeze in base rates for SCE&G’s electric customers at current levels until Jan. 1, 2021, and for PSNC Energy’s customers until at least Nov. 1, 2021. It has also committed to maintaining compensation levels for employees of SCANA and its subsidiaries until at least Jan. 1, 2020, and extending to at least July 1, 2020, base pay continuation or severance for all non-executive employees.

“Today marks a significant milestone in the history of Dominion Energy and SCANA,” Jimmy Addison, CEO of SCANA, said. “Employees at our respective companies have been working hard for months on integration planning, and I am confident that will lead to a smooth transition. These two companies share common values, and this combination provides SCANA’s businesses with the scale and stability to meet customers’ growing energy needs in the years to come.”