Henrico, VA – Today, Shannon Taylor, candidate for Congress in VA-01 and Henrico’s top prosecutor, released the following statement in opposition to the proposed merger of Dominion Energy and Florida-based NextEra Energy, currently before the State Corporation Commission:
“Handing control of Virginia’s power to out-of-state interests and creating the largest utility monopoly in the country is not the answer at a time of rising energy costs. In Florida, a NextEra merger was followed by billions of dollars in rate increases for customers. Congressman Wittman personally benefited from the merger through his stock holdings in NextEra – getting richer while families were forced to pay more.
Virginians already pay too much to keep the lights on. They cannot and will not shoulder even higher bills so massive corporations can make bigger profits. Leaders of both parties here in Virginia must oppose this merger. As a prosecutor, I’ve spent the past 14 years keeping my community safe. While Rob Wittman invests in the company looking to raise our utility costs here, I’ll fight this deal and anyone who tries to profit at Virginians’ expense. I’m calling on Congressman Wittman to sell his NextEra shares now and speak out against this merger.”
While Virginians have overwhelmingly come out in opposition to the merger due to fear of increases in their already sky high utility bills, Rob Wittman remains invested in the utility company looking to merge with Dominion Energy: NextEra Energy. And, he has refused to oppose the merger while maintaining his stock holdings. This same company approved the largest utility rate hike in history after their Florida merger and agreed to pay $150 million to settle allegations that it had lied about its involvement in political interference schemes.
Taylor has been a vocal opponent of Dominion Energy’s ongoing requests to raise rates even further for Virginians, and has made it her top priority to root out this kind of corruption in Washington that allows career politicians like Rob Wittman to get wealthier as they make working families pay the price.
ABOUT SHANNON:
Shannon Taylor is a battle-tested prosecutor with 25 years of experience and a 90% conviction rate in homicide cases, taking on the toughest threats to Virginia families and delivering justice. A native of Charlottesville and graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Richmond Law School, she began her career as a prosecutor in Richmond before serving as a Special Assistant in the U.S. Attorney’s office. In 2011, she flipped the Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office from Republican to Democrat, becoming the first woman elected to the role. She has since been re-elected three times, proving she knows how to win tough races.
As Commonwealth’s Attorney, Taylor has pioneered programs to support victims of human trafficking, created a task force to tackle the opioid epidemic, and led prosecutors statewide in pledging not to criminalize women or doctors for abortion care. She has worked alongside law enforcement to keep families safe, fought fraud that harms working people, and partnered with gun safety advocates to take illegal guns off the streets.
Shannon Taylor has built her career on protecting Virginians and delivering justice for families regardless of their politics.
For more on Shannon Taylor’s campaign, visit ShannonTaylorVA.com.
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