Dominion Energy lands in Columbia the day after rate case hearing

Dominion Energy flew from its Richmond headquarters to Columbia Metropolitan Airport on Wednesday, May 13, landing at 8:23 a.m. local time after a 52-minute flight aboard its Gulfstream G450, tail number N607D. The trip came the morning after a South Carolina Public Service Commission hearing on the company's request to raise electric rates for its 820,000 customers in the state.

That hearing, held Tuesday at the commission's Columbia headquarters, considered a settlement reached days earlier that lowered Dominion Energy's proposed increase from $20 to about $12 per month for the average residential customer, per The State and WIS. The agreement, backed by environmental groups and regulators, also included $6 million in shareholder-funded customer credits and weatherization aid for low-income households. The commission has yet to rule on the settlement, which would boost Dominion Energy's annual revenue by $207 million — down from the initial $322 million request.

The flight is part of a pattern: Dominion Energy's jet visited Columbia on May 12 as well, and has made several trips between Richmond and the Carolinas in recent weeks as the utility navigates rate cases and grid investments across its service territory, including a proposed $3 billion natural gas plant in Virginia.