As Dominion Seeks a $67B Merger, Why Did Del. David Reid Cuts Ties With Its Biggest Watchdog?

By Jiamie Pyles (Jiamie is an advocate, artist and community organizer based in Fauquier County)

As the State Corporation Commission reviews Dominion Energy’s proposed $67 billion merger with NextEra, a deal that will shape Virginia’s electricity policy for a generation, I was surprised to see a delegate distance themselves from one of the few organizations with the resources and willingness to hold Dominion accountable in Richmond.

I’ve supported Delegate David Reid since his 2024 run for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District. His working-class roots, his focus on affordable housing, and his pledge not to take Dominion Energy money all spoke to me as a working-class Fauquier County resident who has struggled with housing costs for most of my adult life. So I was disappointed to read Reid’s recent op-ed, in which he announced he’s cutting ties with Clean Virginia, the nonprofit that has helped candidates reject Dominion’s money since 2018. Reid quoted Pinocchio, declaring “I’m free. There are no strings on me,” and framed Clean Virginia as a bully that has wronged him for years.

What he didn’t mention: since 2025, Dominion has become his second-largest donor, giving his campaign $125,000, which is more than double the $55,000 Clean Virginia has given him since 2018.

Reid’s specific grievances don’t hold up well either. He says Clean Virginia demanded he refund a donation from a Dominion employee, calling it an infringement on the donor’s rights. But Clean Virginia’s pledge, which Reid didn’t formally sign but still benefited from,  bars money from Dominion executives and lobbyists. If the donor was a Dominion executive, Clean Virginia was simply enforcing the terms everyone else who takes their money has to follow.

Reid also cites his 2021 vote against SB1380, a bill backed by Clean Virginia that would have funded an electric school bus program through Dominion. What he leaves out: the bill wasn’t supported by the broader environmental community either, including Mothers Out Front. It would have handed Dominion “public interest” cost recovery, limiting SCC oversight of what Dominion could charge customers but for unproven technology, with taxpayers and ratepayers on the hook if it failed.

This matters far beyond one delegate’s grievances. Clean Virginia exists because Dominion has spent decades outspending accountability in the General Assembly. From 2017 to 2026, Dominion overcharged Virginia customers roughly $1.6 billion and was required to refund only about $330 million of it.

The SCC has scheduled its first public hearing on the NextEra merger for November. Clean Virginia has already filed to slow the review process over what it calls major gaps in the companies’ application, and Gov. Spanberger has now moved to intervene in the case as well, citing concerns about rates and long-term benefits for Virginians. This is precisely the moment when an organization willing to push back against Dominion’s spending matters most, and precisely the moment a well-funded elected official is choosing to distance himself from it.

Delegate Reid may believe he’s freed himself from one puppet master. Virginians deserve to know whether he’s handed his strings over to a new puppeteer.