(The Center Square) – Virginia regulators are adding two local public hearings to the review of the proposed merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy.

The State Corporation Commission ordered the additional hearings Wednesday, one day after a coalition of nine Virginia community organizations called for more in-person hearings across Dominion’s service territory.

Locations and times have not been announced. The commission said a hearing examiner will convene the two hearings and that details will be released in a supplemental order as soon as practicable.

Commission staff also will attend the hearings to provide a brief update on procedural aspects of the proceeding.

The commission separately scheduled an in-person hearing Nov. 5 from 2 to 5 p.m. in its second-floor courtroom at 1300 E. Main St. in Richmond.

The coalition had asked for at least four regional hearings, including opportunities in Northern Virginia, the Fredericksburg-Stafford area, Central Virginia and Hampton Roads.

The groups said residents should have a chance to testify closer to home. They filed a notice of participation in the commission case and said they are not taking a position at this time on whether the merger should be approved.

Commissioner Samuel T. Towell concurred with the decision to add the hearings but said in-person comments will not carry more weight than comments submitted by phone or in writing.

“A statement made in person at a remote location is given no more (or less) weight than a statement provided telephonically or in writing,” Towell wrote.

Towell said local hearings have typically been used in cases involving projects with a specific impact on one area, including solar facilities, compressor stations and transmission lines.

The Dominion-NextEra case is different because the entire Dominion service territory is affected rather than one particular community, he wrote.

“This is not a normal case,” Towell wrote, adding that the additional hearings provide another way for the public to weigh in.

Virginians also can testify by telephone Nov. 5 from 8:30 to 11 a.m. and Nov. 9 and Nov. 10 from 4 to 7 p.m. Written comments are due Nov. 9.

The commission’s evidentiary hearing is scheduled to begin Nov. 17.

Dominion and NextEra filed their joint petition with the commission July 15. The proposed merger would combine Dominion with Florida-based NextEra as regulators consider the future ownership of Virginia’s largest electric utility.

This post was originally published on The Center Square.