Dividend Safe as Dominion Energy Wraps Up Strategic Review; Payout Ratio Above Target

Dominion Energy has been in the energy business since 1898. It’s one of the biggest utility companies in the U.S. and serves about 7 million customers in Virginia, the Carolinas, Ohio, and Utah electricity and gas.

Dominion has steady and predictable income because it is regulated utility. Regulated utilities are like monopolies that are controlled by the government. They spend a lot of money to build and maintain power plants, transmission lines, and distribution networks that cover a large area.

The government limits the competition by deciding which companies can build new power plants. And even though regulated utilities are monopolies, they can’t charge whatever they want for their services. The government sets the price in an effort to make it fair for the customers while giving the utility enough incentive to invest in safe and reliable service.

Dominion’s main business is Virginia Electric and Power Company, which makes more than half of its profits. It operates in Virginia and North Carolina, two states that have good regulatory environments, according to research group called RRA.

These states in which Dominion operates have fast-growing populations and businesses, which makes the regulators want to encourage more infrastructure spending by giving higher returns on capital and allowing higher electric rates over time.

South Carolina, where Dominion has its next biggest business, is also one of the fastest-growing states in the country. This helps Dominion grow its income organically. In short, most of Dominion’s utilities have good relationships with the regulators and good prospects for growth.

But even though Dominion operates in friendly states, it had to cut its dividend in 2020. This ended a long history of paying dividends without interruption for over 90 years.

This happened because Dominion decided to sell its natural gas business, which made about 25% of its profits. Without this cash flow, Dominion would have paid out more than 100% of its income as dividends, which wasn't sustainable. So it had to lower its dividend.

But, by selling its natural gas business, Dominion became a more focused with one of the best growth rates in the industry. It also plans to increase its dividend by 6% every year until 2026.

Dominion’s business is more aligned with the trend of clean energy, and its income has become more predictable with regulated utilities making up 90% of its operating earnings.

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