State regulators have scheduled a hearing in September so the public can comment on Dominion Energy’s proposed rate increase.
The hearing will be held at noon Sept. 2 and will be streamed online. Anyone who wants to comment during it must sign up by 5 p.m. Aug. 26 by completing a State Corporation Commission public witness form for case number PUR-2025-00058 or by calling the SCC at 804-371-9141 between 8:15 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.
The SCC is also accepting written comments through its website or by mail to the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, VA 23218-2118. Comments must refer to case PUR-2025-00058.
Dominion is asking the State Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities in Virginia, for permission to increase both its base rates, which make up about half of a customer’s bill, and its fuel factor, which the company uses to recover fuel costs.
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The hearing scheduled for September is just to evaluate base rates. A hearing to evaluate the fuel factor has not yet been scheduled.
Nonetheless, Dominion’s proposals for its base rates and its fuel factor are intertwined. The utility has said that it wants to shift some demand-related costs from the base rates to the fuel factor to provide more stable bills for customers.
If regulators approve both of Dominion’s plans, the average residential customer’s monthly bill would increase by $21.43, or 15.3%, from $140 today to $161.43 after Jan. 1, 2027.
The utility has said that raising its rates will allow it to earn more revenue to handle rising costs and continued investments in service reliability.
The company is also proposing a new rate class for data centers and other customers that use high amounts of energy. It also seeks new minimum charges for large-scale electricity users.
Richmond-based Dominion Energy has more than 3.6 million customers in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Of those, more than 2.5 million are in Virginia, including in Central and Southside Virginia and the Alleghany Highlands.