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The Newsguy at the Newslab -- Steve Herman
Narratives, analysis and musings on the media from the executive director of the Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy & Innovation in the School of Journalism & New Media at the University of Mississippi.
A Letter to My Electric Company
How we're going to pay more for less so tech billionaires can power AI.
Dear Dominion Energy,
Thank you so much for your deeply touching letter regarding our upcoming rate hikes. It is truly inspiring how you frame an extra $8 a month (estimated, your mileage may vary) as an exciting new opportunity for customer engagement. The sheer acrobatic skill required to spin a price increase into a heartwarming mass email about “what we can do together” deserves its own industry award.
It is comforting to know that these skyrocketing fuel costs are being passed along “without markup”—what a relief! And I am reassured to learn that a multi-billion-dollar utility giant is operating as a humble, non-profit charity just trying to keep the lights on out of the goodness of its heart.
If only you could keep the lights on. In our Virginia community served by Dominion Energy nearly every time the wind blows slightly harder than a gentle breeze or there’s a thunderclap, we know we are about lose power for hours, if not days. Just a minor inconvenience for those of us who can afford to purchase expensive whole-house generators. Mine is fueled with a 500-gallon propane tank to ensure we can survive for a week without your precious electricity. (Yes, week-long outages continue to occur here in the 21st century, less than 50 miles from the White House.) At the current rate of $3.57 per gallon, a full tank of propane costs a mere $1,785.
Apparently, burying a single mile of vulnerable, overhead power lines which repeatedly get knocked down by the same row of trees is far too expensive for a company floating proposed mega-mergers and raking in massive revenue, whose slogan is “Powering Your Every Day.” If only you could power us every day.
I am confident things will change for the better if you are able to get your $67 billion after selling out to NextEra Energy. And we can surely anticipate that the Florida-based utility (market cap of $187 billion), is certain to place a higher priority than you, a Virginia-based company, on its far-away residential ratepayers here in the Commonwealth.
We are delighted that we will be making our payments to NextEra, whose key subsidiary, Florida Power & Light, was implicated in off-the-books campaign finance schemes, funding “ghost candidates” to skew state elections, spying on a journalist and influencing news coverage. These scandals triggered shareholder derivative suits, internal leadership shakeups and a $150 million securities fraud settlement. A small price to pay for such behavior. NextEra has also faced federal enforcement actions for violating wildlife and environmental protection rules. Our neighborhood’s bald eagles can’t wait for the sale to go through.
We perfectly understand why Dominion Energy cannot invest in basic, functional infrastructure for long-suffering residential customers when those funds are far better spent to accommodate massive, energy-hungry data centers owned by tech billionaires.
I have full confidence that the three lawyers who compose the state’s decision-making body which will review your rate hike request, the Virginia State Corporation Commission, will vote in the best interest of the residential consumer. After all, the chairman used to be at the law firm which has been a primary regulatory counsel for Dominion Energy. How about that? Another member of the commission was a top executive for a lobbyist association mostly composed of utility companies and other power producers. And the third was formerly with two law firms which have major practice groups dedicated to the energy sector and represent electrical utility companies as clients. Their appointments were wisely made by the Virginia General Assembly, a sage body in which at least 80 percent of the lawmakers have taken campaign contributions directly from Dominion Energy or its political action committees. This should totally reassure constituents that their elected representatives are of, for, and by the people.
I guess we should ignore the skeptics who doubt rate hikes, grid “upgrades” and corporate expansions are designed to make it affordable for our families not to perspire inside their homes in the summer and to stop our teeth chattering in the winter. Those critics contend that our rates balloon to help bankroll high-voltage power lines like the controversial “Kraken Loop” (perfect name) that you intend to erect through our backyards, neighborhood parks and school playgrounds. Nothing says “we’re here to help” quite like running 500,000 volt lines over children’s heads so an AI data farm can consume the equivalent of the power needs of the entire city of Roanoke. (That’s not hyperbole, do the math.)
Your suggestions in the letter on “what customers can do” are particularly thoughtful:
Track and adjust energy use: Excellent idea. During the next routine blackout caused by a mild gust of wind, our energy usage will sit at a crisp zero kilowatt-hours.
Explore Budget Billing: Splitting inflated costs into predictable, monthly installments certainly makes funding billionaire infrastructure projects much easier to digest!
With profound gratitude for the upcoming rate hike and the unstable power supply,
Steve
(A “Valued” Customer)
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