弗吉尼亚州州长阿比盖尔·斯潘伯格（民主党）正推动在该州暂停电价上涨六年，作为NextEra Energy与Dominion Energy合并案的一部分。
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) is pushing for a six-year pause on electricity rate hikes in the commonwealth as part of a merger between NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy.
斯潘伯格周一向州公司委员会（SCC）提交了专家证词，敦促该委员会如果这两家公司不同意暂停基本电价上涨六年——即三个费率审议周期——则否决这项拟议合并。
Spanberger on Monday filed expert testimony with the State Corporation Commission (SCC), urging it to reject the proposed merger if the two companies do not agree to halt increases to base electricity rates for six years — three rate case cycles.
Dominion总部位于弗吉尼亚州里士满，该公司与NextEra于5月宣布了合并计划。两家公司当时表示，此次交易将创建按市值计算全球最大的受监管电力公用事业企业。
Dominion, which is headquartered in Richmond, Va., and NextEra announced plans to merge in May. The deal would create the world’s largest regulated electric utility business by market capitalization, the companies said at the time.
根据这项两家公司在5月表示预计将在12至18个月内完成的交易，NextEra将以近670亿美元的股权收购Dominion。
Under the deal, which the two companies said in May they expect to close in 12 to 18 months, NextEra will acquire Dominion for nearly $67 billion in equity.
两家公司表示，北卡罗来纳州、南卡罗来纳州和弗吉尼亚州的客户将在交易完成后获得22.5亿美元的股东资助账单抵扣额。
The two companies have said customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia would receive $2.25 billion in shareholder-funded bill credits upon closing.
但斯潘伯格列出了该交易达成的条件，呼吁两家公司将给弗吉尼亚州用户的利益增加两倍，这将使回扣增至每月29美元，为期四年。
But Spanberger outlined her stipulations for the deal to go through, calling on the companies to triple the ratepayer benefits to Virginians, which would increase the rebate to $29 per month for four years.
这位上任第一年的弗吉尼亚州州长曾以降低生活成本为竞选纲领，她周二澄清称，她的提案将允许在经济状况允许的情况下降低电价。
The first-year Virginia governor, who campaigned on lowering the cost of living, clarified Tuesday that her proposal would allow for electricity rates to decrease if economic conditions warrant.
斯潘伯格在记者电话会上表示：“如果电价本应下降，SCC可能会进行审查，……重新审视定价（如果电价在下降）。”
“In the event that rates would otherwise be going down, there could be a review by the SCC that would … revisit that pricing if it’s going down,” Spanberger told reporters on a press call.
根据美国能源信息管理局的数据，弗吉尼亚州的平均居民电价为每千瓦时17.55美分，低于全国平均的每千瓦时18.31美分。
Virginia’s average residential electricity rate is 17.55 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), below the national average of 18.31 cents per kWH, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
斯潘伯格周二承认，SCC委员们“距离决定是否批准NextEra-Dominion合并案还有很长一段路”。但她表示，这笔交易“对弗吉尼亚人来说远远不够好”。
Spanberger acknowledged Tuesday that SCC commissioners are “still a ways away” from deciding whether to greenlight the NextEra-Dominion merger. But she said the deal “is not nearly good enough” for Virginians.
“我打算非常明确地阐述一些要求；这些要求可以说是具有‘挑战性’的，但同时也非常现实。我认为只有满足了这些要求，这次潜在的合并才能真正为弗吉尼亚州的居民带来预期的好处，”弗吉尼亚州州长补充道。
“I am going to make clear the very long, very clear and … I would call it aggressive, but also quite realistic, requirements that I think would be necessary to meet for this potential merger to actually meet the stated benefits for Virginians,” the Virginia governor added.