PJM Independent Market Monitor Protests NextEra–Dominion Merger Over Structural Market Power Concerns (FERC Docket EC26-131)

On September 29, 2026, Monitoring Analytics, acting as the PJM Independent Market Monitor, filed a formal protest under Rule 211 opposing NextEra Energy's proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy (FERC Docket No. EC26-131), arguing the July 15, 2026 Section 203 application fails to address increases in horizontal and vertical structural market power, provides insufficient and inconsistent asset disclosure, and should be rejected because Applicants show no offsetting public-interest benefits.

The merger would combine Dominion, the second-largest PJM capacity owner and dominant supplier in the constrained Chesapeake submarket (Data Center Alley), with NextEra, an active competitive developer of merchant generation and transmission, potentially eliminating a significant competitor, entrenching Dominion's Virginia monopoly, deterring new entry into PJM's capacity-constrained data-center-driven generation and transmission buildout, and setting a precedent accelerating further consolidation of PJM asset ownership.

This is a market-power-focused Section 203 merger protest rather than a market design rulemaking, but it has direct market-design implications for PJM's competitive energy, capacity, and transmission procurement models. The IMM's core arguments — traditional static HHI/DPT screens are inadequate to capture forward-looking effects of gas-turbine supply constraints, generation interconnection queue positions, RTEP transmission ownership shares, and vertical integration through NextEra's Mountain Valley Pipeline stake affecting Transco Zone 5 gas pricing — echo a broader industry trend of utilities lobbying to 're-regulate' generation (PPL, Exelon) that could undermine PJM's competitive market model. The outcome will influence how FERC evaluates future utility consolidation in PJM, particularly regarding submarket definition, vertical market power from pipeline ownership, and disclosure requirements for uncommitted generation capacity used in market power screens.

Federal Power Act Section 203 (16 U.S.C. § 824b); FERC Merger Policy Statement (Order No. 592, 77 FERC ¶ 61,263); 18 CFR Part 33 merger filing requirements; Rule 211 of FERC Rules and Regulations (18 CFR § 385.211); FERC Docket No. EC26-131

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