(The Center Square) – Virginia regulators could reject the pending merger application of NextEra and Dominion, requiring the companies to refile and restart the state’s six-month review clock, a state senator suggested Tuesday.

Sen. Creigh Deeds raised the possibility during an Energy Commission of Virginia meeting examining whether the commonwealth’s utility merger law gives regulators enough time and authority to review the roughly $67 billion transaction.

Deeds asked Energy Commission Executive Director Carrie Hearne whether the State Corporation Commission could reach the end of its review, determine Virginia’s legal standard had not been met, dismiss the case without prejudice and require Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy to file again.

“That is my understanding as well,” Hearne said.

Deeds later reiterated that a new filing would restart the six-month statutory review period.

The exchange came during several hours of testimony on Virginia’s Utility Transfers Act, which Deeds said dates to 1940 and was last amended in 1942.

Under the law, the State Corporation Commission determines whether adequate service to the public at just and reasonable rates would be “impaired or jeopardized” by a utility transfer and may impose conditions on an approval.

The adequacy of that review period was already being questioned before Tuesday’s meeting.

In an Aug. 12 letter to commission Chairwoman Kelsey Bagot, Sen. Scott Surovell asked whether the existing statutory timeframe gives the commission enough time to complete a meaningful review given the size of the transaction, number of parties and intervenors, likely length of hearings and need to develop a full record.

The commission responded Monday that commissioners would not comment outside the case record on issues affecting the merits of the pending application.

Joshua Macey, a Yale Law School professor with a focus on electricity markets and utility regulation, urged Virginia to consider replacing its current standard with one requiring companies to demonstrate measurable benefits for customers.

He also recommended a longer review period and tighter protections involving transactions between regulated utilities and affiliated companies.

Some of lawmakers’ questioning centered on Virginia’s growing electricity demand from data centers.

Surovell asked whether that growth could be part of what makes Dominion attractive to NextEra.

Macey said growth creates opportunities for significant investment but said the central question is who ultimately pays for it.

Dominion pushed back on calls for additional time.

Bill Murray, speaking for Dominion Energy during public comment, defended the State Corporation Commission as a professional and well-resourced regulator.

“I will challenge anybody who says more time is needed,” Murray said.

NextEra and Dominion have proposed about $1.78 billion in bill credits for Virginia customers over 24 months, or roughly $10 per month for a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours.

The meeting also addressed Bagot’s decision not to recuse herself from the merger proceeding because of previous work involving NextEra. Bagot was a senior attorney at NextEra Energy, Inc. Previously she served as legal advisor to Commissioner Mark C. Christie at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

A public commenter questioned Bagot’s participation, but commission members Meade Browder and Angela Navarro, a former commission commissioner, defended her decision.

Browder said prior employment does not itself create a conflict and said Bagot has a duty to participate where no conflict exists. Del. Irene Shin said having a full commission available to review the case was important.

Most public commenters who addressed the merger opposed it or raised concerns about affordability, data-center growth and regulatory oversight.

For lawmakers, the broader question remains whether Virginia’s current merger law gives the commission enough time and authority to fully evaluate a transaction of this size before a decision is made.