(The Center Square) – NextEra Energy must provide records about accusations of political misconduct in Florida by Thursday as Virginia regulators review its proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy.

The State Corporation Commission’s chief hearing examiner also ordered a clearer answer about whether generation costs incurred to serve large-load customers could shift to customers who remain with Dominion for their electricity supply.

U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., announced Monday that he had joined a congressional letter urging federal regulators to more closely examine the merger’s potential effects on competition and electricity costs.

Chief Hearing Examiner D. Mathias Roussy Jr.’s Friday ruling gives the companies four business days to supplement responses to Clean Virginia’s information requests. He granted some requests and rejected others.

Roussy found that NextEra’s handling of allegations involving its Florida Power & Light subsidiary could help regulators evaluate NextEra’s management. The ruling does not establish wrongdoing or decide whether to approve the merger.

Dominion and NextEra argued that historical political activity outside Virginia falls beyond the proceeding’s scope. The companies said an internal investigation found no evidence of illegality or wrongdoing by Florida Power & Light or its employees.

Required disclosures include a memorandum allegedly sent to then-NextEra Chairman James Robo concerning potentially unlawful conduct by Florida Power & Light officers through consultants and vendors, if it exists and is within the companies’ possession or control.

NextEra also must provide records of an internal investigation Robo discussed on a January 2022 earnings call; contracts, payments and work product involving Matrix LLC, Canopy Partners and specified related entities; and records supplied to Jacksonville’s special committee investigating the proposed sale of its public utility, JEA.

On customer costs, the companies said Dominion’s rates and service terms provide substantial protections against shifting generation costs. Their attorney acknowledged during oral argument that the risk is never zero, according to the ruling. Roussy ordered a more specific response.

The companies have offered an alternative that would double the proposed residential bill credit period from two years to four, subject to commission approval. Their Sept. 14 announcement described $10 monthly credits funded by shareholders and a commitment to keep merger costs off customers’ bills.

Vindman, U.S. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and other lawmakers urged federal scrutiny of the merger in a Sept. 29 letter.

Public hearings are scheduled Wednesday in Newport News and Friday in Fairfax County. Written comments are due Nov. 9, and the evidentiary hearing begins Nov. 17.