Dominion said that the 30-day waiting period under the federal Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act is one of the key conditions required for completing the deal which was signed in January 2018.
Under the terms of the deal, Dominion agreed to write-off more than $1.7bn of existing V.C. Summer 2 and 3 capital and certain regulatory assets which would reduce customer costs, and completion of the $180m Columbia Energy Center natural-gas fired power station at no cost to customers.
Upon completion of the deal, which is expected in 2018, Scana would operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Dominion Energy.
The combined company would serve 6.5 million electric and natural gas distribution customers. It will have an electric generating portfolio of 31,400MW, 93,600 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines as well as natural gas pipeline network totaling 106,400 miles.
The integrated company would also operate natural gas storage systems with 1 trillion cubic feet of capacity.
Dominion Energy chairman, president and CEO Thomas F Farrell II earlier said: "The deal would lock in significant and immediate savings for SCE&G customers – including what we believe is the largest utility customer cash refund in history – and guarantee a rapidly declining impact from the V.C. Summer project.”
The proposed merger is also subject to approval of Scana's shareholders; review and approval from the public service commissions of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia; and authorization of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
