Dominion-SCANA deal receives federal approval

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Dominion Energy’s proposed $14.6 billion acquisition of SCANA Corp. has received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

In an order issued Thursday, FERC said the proposed deal is “consistent with the public interest.”

In March, the Georgia Public Service Commission unanimously approved the acquisition.

“We are pleased by the FERC’s considered and timely action,” Dominion CEO Tom Farrell said in a news release. “It brings us closer to providing a brighter energy future for customers, communities and others served by the SCANA companies. We will continue working toward achieving the other required regulatory approvals and completing our transaction by the end of this year.”

The deal also previously received early termination by the Federal Trade Commission of the 30-day waiting period required under the federal Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

The proposal also requires the approval of SCANA shareholders as well as the public service commissions of South Carolina and North Carolina and the authorization of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

SCANA shareholders will vote on the proposal at a special July 31 meeting.

Legislation passed late last month would delay S.C. Public Service Commission action until December, among other measures taken by the General Assembly in response to the V.C. Summer nuclear reactor debacle. SCANA subsidiary S.C. Electric and Gas was co-owner of the project, abandoned last July, and its customers have been saddled with an 18% increase in electric bills related to the reactors.

SCANA also added two members to its board of directors, both of whom were appointed to a special litigation committee formed to investigate allegations against current and former company officials in pending lawsuits stemming from the V.C. Summer project.

John (Jeb) Bachman and Patricia Galloway will be presented for election by shareholders at SCANA’s annual shareholders meeting on Sept 12. Galloway will serve as chair of the litigation committee.

Galloway is chair of the board and the former CEO of international management consulting firm Pegasus-Global Holdings Inc., which works with major construction projects in the global energy and infrastructure sectors. Galloway, who serves on several other public company and nonprofit boards, is an international arbitrator and a member of the American Arbitration Association’s board of directors. In 2004, she was elected the first female president of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Bachman retired in 2015 from PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he served as the U.S. assurance operations leader from 2007-2013. Bachman spent more than 36 years at the multinational audit and assurance, tax and consulting services network, serving as U.S. strategy leader from 2004-2007.