By Rory D. Sweeney
South Carolina legislators continue to maneuver as if there is some room to negotiate the terms of a deal to sell SCANA to Dominion, but Dominion CEO Thomas Farrell emphatically rejected that presumption on a Friday conference call to discuss the company’s first-quarter earnings.
“No flexibility,” Farrell said. “We’ve made our offer, and it’s going through the political process now.”
The state legislature must approve the nearly $8 billion takeover bid, which includes controversial provisions for customers to continue paying on a failed nuclear plant in the state. He noted that the legislature’s session ends on May 11.
Dominion reported first-quarter operating earnings of $741 million ($1.14/share), which beat analysts’ estimates by $0.08/share and improved on earnings of $611 million ($0.97/share), for the same period in 2017. Revenue of $3.47 billion improved 2.7% from the same period last year but missed expectations by $50 million.
The company’s unadjusted earnings were $503 million ($0.77/share), compared with $632 million ($1.01/share), for the same period in 2017.
Paul Koonce, Dominion’s executive vice president and CEO of the Power Generation unit, was also upbeat about the prospects for its Millstone nuclear plant to receive subsidies through a Connecticut procurement process previously reserved for renewables. State officials will be issuing requests for proposals for renewable generation in May, he said. Bids will be open through September and approved by year end. The company plans to pursue an “at-risk” designation for the plant that will allow it to include non-price factors in its offer, including zero carbon emissions, fuel diversity and grid reliability, he said.
“They have a report … that showed what it would cost consumers if Millstone were to retire, so I think there is some recognition of the value of Millstone, so really [all those developments are] supposed to play out between now and September with bids being approved by year end,” he said.