Verified
Dominion Energy
Piloting- Utility
- ~15,200 employees
- Chief AI and Digital Officer (Jul 2026)
- AI Policy (2026)
- NextEra merger due 2H 2027
Dominion Energy runs AI in a few operations, including a machine-learning system that corrected more than 9,500 meter-to-transformer mismatches from Sep 2023 to Apr 2025 and AI tools in its contact center, and lets employees use approved generative AI tools under a 2026 AI Policy. Dominion named John Russell Chief AI and Digital Officer in Jul 2026 but has published no AI user count, budget or return. Dominion's board cited NextEra Energy's AI among its reasons for a merger expected to close in the second half of 2027.
dominionenergy.comTheir approach to AI
- The platform
- Dominion Energy has disclosed no company-wide AI platform; its 2025 proxy statement allows approved generative AI tools, and an Aug 2024 job posting said Microsoft Copilot for Web and Microsoft Copilot for Work were in use.
- The models
- Dominion Energy's filings name no model provider; the only AI products it has named are Microsoft's Copilot tools (Aug 2024 job posting), and its misgrid system runs a machine-learning algorithm built by a Dominion Energy Virginia team.
- The reach
- Dominion Energy gives no count of employees using AI among its roughly 15,200 full-time staff (Dec 2025); CEO Robert Blue said in May 2026 that the company had recently deployed a range of AI tools, including in its contact center.
- The catch
- Dominion Energy's board listed NextEra Energy's data analytics and AI deployment among its reasons to combine (Jul 2026), and the companies plan to share AI practices after a close expected in the second half of 2027.
Snapshot
- Employees
- ~15,200
- Full-time, Dec 31, 2025; about 6,700 at Virginia Power (2025 Form 10-K)
- Technology budget
- Not disclosed
- The 2026 to 2030 capital plan includes smart meters, intelligent grid devices and cyber security
- AI/ML headcount
- Not disclosed
- IT advertises roles on an AI and Emerging Technologies team; Electric Transmission has an analytics team using machine learning
- Who owns AI
- John Russell, Chief AI and Digital Officerest.
- Vice president, named Jul 2026 per DatacenterDynamics; IT sits under SVP Wendy Wellener
- Platform
- None disclosed
- Approved generative AI tools allowed by Mar 2025; Microsoft Copilot in use by Aug 2024
- Models
- Not disclosed
- No model provider named in filings or reports
- Reach
- Not disclosed
- No count of employees using AI published
- Use cases
- Misgrid correction and contact center AI in production
- AI on grid sensor data and AI-driven outage forecasting announced
Key findings
Dominion Energy named John Russell, its Chief Technology Officer since Apr 2025 and a former Northrop Grumman chief information officer, as Vice President and Chief AI and Digital Officer in Jul 2026, according to DatacenterDynamics; Dominion Energy's executive leadership page, checked Nov 1, 2026, does not list the role.
Dominion Energy's Generative AI Policy, in place by Mar 2025, let employees use approved efficiency-enhancing generative AI tools while managing their risks; an Aug 2024 Dominion Energy job posting said Microsoft Copilot for Web and Microsoft Copilot for Work were in use, and a broader Artificial Intelligence Policy followed in 2026.
A Dominion Energy Virginia team built a system that combines smart-meter data, a machine-learning algorithm and robotic process automation to fix misgrids, meters recorded against the wrong transformer; the system corrected more than 9,500 of them from Sep 2023 to Apr 2025 and won an AEIC Achievement Award in Sep 2024.
Dominion Energy CEO Robert Blue said on May 1, 2026 that the company had recently deployed a range of AI tools, including contact center AI that reads customer needs and sentiment in real time, and Dominion Energy Virginia began a five-year alliance with PingThings on Oct 28, 2026 to apply AI to more than 5 petabytes of grid sensor data; Dominion Energy has reported no financial return from either.
Dominion Energy agreed on May 15, 2026 to combine with NextEra Energy in an all-stock deal that shareholders approved on Sep 3, 2026 and that the companies expect to close in the second half of 2027; Dominion Energy's board listed NextEra's advanced data analytics and AI deployment among its reasons.
Where Dominion sits
- Stage
- Piloting
Dominion Energy sits at Piloting: employees could use approved generative AI tools by Mar 2025, a machine-learning system has corrected meter records in production since Sep 2023, AI tools run in the contact center (May 2026), and the company-wide AI Policy only arrived in 2026. Dominion Energy falls short of Scaling because it shows no company-wide AI platform open to most employees, no count of employees using AI, only a handful of production use cases and no reported return, even after naming John Russell Chief AI and Digital Officer in Jul 2026.
How the stages are defined - Ownership
- John Russell, VP and Chief AI and Digital Officer (Jul 2026); IT under SVP Wendy Wellener in Dominion Energy Services
- Platform
- Hybrid: Approved generative AI tools, including Microsoft Copilot; misgrid model built in-house
- Models
- Microsoft Copilot (2024 job posting); other providers not disclosed
- Hosting
- Not disclosed; Copilot is a Microsoft cloud service, a 2026 job ad cites AI in Dominion's private cloud, and the data platform spans cloud and on-premises
- Reach
- Not disclosed; about 15,200 employees (Dec 2025)
How they deploy
Policy before platform
Dominion Energy has set rules for AI before announcing any company-wide AI platform. Dominion Energy's Mar 2025 proxy statement describes a Generative AI Policy meant to protect the company, employees and customers from the risks of employee use of generative AI without restricting appropriate use of approved efficiency-enhancing tools, and the Mar 2026 proxy statement says the company launched an Artificial Intelligence Policy in 2026 that ties AI use to its core values.
AI inside grid operations and customer service
Dominion Energy's disclosed AI work sits mostly in grid operations. Dominion Energy fixes misgrids with smart-meter data, a machine-learning algorithm and robotic process automation, and its 2024 sustainability report says the company is investing in higher-resolution modeling and AI-driven probability and risk forecasts to predict power outages. On Oct 28, 2026 Dominion Energy Virginia and PingThings began a five-year Technology Acceleration Alliance to apply AI to seven years of full-resolution grid sensor data, and on May 1, 2026 CEO Robert Blue said AI in the contact center gives Dominion Energy real-time insight into customer needs and sentiment.
From Chief Technology Officer to Chief AI and Digital Officer
Dominion Energy created a Chief Technology Officer role in 2025 to focus on how technology can speed its mission of reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy, according to its 2026 proxy statement. John Russell held that role from Apr 2025 and was promoted in Jul 2026 to Vice President and Chief AI and Digital Officer, according to DatacenterDynamics and AIM Media House. Dominion Energy's board and its Safety, Technology, Nuclear and Operations Committee hear from the Chief Technology Officer, the Chief Information Officer and the security leaders on the company's technology plans, including updates on automation and AI.
AI as a reason to combine with NextEra Energy
Dominion Energy's board listed NextEra Energy's advanced data and analytics capabilities and its deployment of AI to drive operating efficiency among its reasons to approve the combination announced on May 18, 2026, according to the Jul 2026 joint proxy statement. The merger presentation says the combined company would be rapidly deploying AI to drive efficiency and lists SaaS revenue from NextEra Energy's AI partnership with Google Cloud as an upside, and the Jul 2026 regulatory filing announcement says Dominion Energy's utilities would draw on shared practices in data analytics and AI.
Employee and startup innovation programs
Dominion Energy finds new tools through employee programs: Envision Tomorrow, a companywide effort to work smarter using employee ideas, an annual Innovation Expo and the Chair's Excellence Awards, according to its 2024 sustainability report. The Dominion Energy Innovation Center, a startup accelerator Dominion Energy backs, picked LōD Technologies for its 2026 Accelerate program, which led to a Jul 2026 pilot of software that adjusts AI computing workloads to grid conditions. Dominion Energy's 2024 annual report also highlights employee awards for using an autonomous robot in high-radiation nuclear areas and for drone use, without describing either as AI.
- Deployment model
- Dominion Energy runs information technology as a corporate service. Dominion Energy Services, led by Carlos Brown, provides information technology, security, real estate, facilities and supply chain to the operating companies, and Senior Vice President Wendy Wellener has overseen information technology and cyber and physical security within it since Jan 2026. Dominion Energy named John Russell Vice President and Chief AI and Digital Officer in Jul 2026 but has not said whom he reports to or how many people work for him. Dominion Energy's IT organization has advertised roles on an AI and Emerging Technologies team, and the AI work it has disclosed also comes from operating teams: the Dominion Energy Virginia team behind misgrid correction, and Electric Transmission's Strategic Initiatives group, whose Engineering Analytics & Modeling team applies machine learning to forecasting models (Oct 2026 job posting) and whose director spoke for Dominion Energy in the Oct 2026 PingThings alliance.
- Model providers
- Dominion Energy has not named a model provider in its filings or reports. An Aug 2024 Dominion Energy job posting said generative and predictive AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot for Web and Microsoft Copilot for Work were in use within the company to summarize information, write text and find information in internal files, meetings, chats and emails, and the Mar 2025 proxy statement refers only to approved efficiency-enhancing generative AI tools. A 2026 posting for a senior software engineer on Dominion Energy's AI and Emerging Technologies team, as copied by the jobright.ai job board, asks for experience building generative AI applications with retrieval-augmented generation and model fine-tuning, without naming a provider. NextEra Energy, which expects to complete its combination with Dominion Energy in the second half of 2027, announced on Dec 8, 2025 that Google Cloud would power its enterprise-wide digital transformation, naming Google's TimesFM 2.5 and WeatherNext 2 models.
- Data and infrastructure
- Dominion Energy has deployed smart meters to nearly all of its Virginia customers, and its 2025 CDP response says smart-meter data, intelligent grid devices, automated control systems, a customer information platform and advanced analytics will help it forecast load and find grid problems before outages. Dominion Energy Virginia keeps more than 5 petabytes of sensor data from transmission lines, substations and transformers on PingThings' PredictiveGrid platform, recorded since 2019, and expects the volume to more than double, according to the Oct 2026 alliance announcement. Dominion Energy's enterprise data platform connects cloud, on-premises and other systems through Informatica and Denodo, according to an Oct 2026 job posting that ties the platform to data, analytics and AI delivery. Dominion Energy has not disclosed which cloud providers host its AI work: Microsoft's Copilot tools run as a Microsoft cloud service, and the 2026 AI engineering posting copied by jobright.ai describes deploying AI in the company's private cloud. Dominion Energy's 2025 Form 10-K says some of its information technology systems are provided by third-party vendors under service contracts.
Platforms and internal tools
Approved generative AI tools, including Microsoft CopilotBy Aug 2024
Dominion Energy's Generative AI Policy, disclosed in Mar 2025, lets employees use approved efficiency-enhancing generative AI tools while guarding the company, employees and customers against their risks. An Aug 2024 Dominion Energy job posting said Microsoft Copilot for Web and Microsoft Copilot for Work were in use for summarizing, drafting and finding information in internal files, meetings, chats and emails. Dominion Energy has not said which other tools are approved or how many employees use them.
- Models
- Microsoft Copilot for Web and Microsoft Copilot for Work
Misgrid correction systemSep 2023
Dominion Energy's misgrid correction system uses smart-meter data, a machine-learning algorithm and robotic process automation to find meters recorded against the wrong transformer in the customer information platform and correct them without a field visit. A Dominion Energy Virginia team built the system, which won an AEIC Achievement Award from the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies in Sep 2024.
- Users
- Automatic; more than 9,500 misgrids corrected from Sep 2023 to Apr 2025
- Models
- Machine-learning algorithm with robotic process automation
PredictiveGrid (PingThings)2019
PingThings' PredictiveGrid platform has recorded Dominion Energy Virginia's transmission system, including the lines serving Northern Virginia's data center cluster, at full resolution since 2019 and holds more than 5 petabytes of grid sensor data. A five-year Technology Acceleration Alliance announced on Oct 28, 2026 widens the platform's role and aims to apply AI to the data, with Dominion Energy acting as a reference utility that publishes results for other utilities.
Enterprise data platformBy Oct 2026
Dominion Energy's enterprise data platform links cloud, on-premises and other enterprise systems through Informatica and Denodo, and an Oct 2026 job posting asks its platform owner to build reusable integrations that speed enterprise data, analytics, governance and AI delivery.
Vendors and partners
NextEra EnergyMay 2026
Merger partner; Dominion Energy's board cited its data analytics and AI deployment · NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy agreed on May 15, 2026 to combine in an all-stock deal that the companies expect to close in the second half of 2027; NextEra's enterprise-wide digital transformation runs on Google Cloud AI and infrastructure under a Dec 2025 partnership.
MicrosoftBy Aug 2024
Copilot for Web and Copilot for Work for employees · Named in an Aug 2024 Dominion Energy job posting; Dominion Energy's filings do not name the vendor.
PingThings2019
Grid sensor data platform (PredictiveGrid) and AI on transmission data · Five-year Technology Acceleration Alliance with Dominion Energy Virginia announced Oct 28, 2026; PingThings is opening a Richmond presence.
LōD TechnologiesJul 2026
Pilot of software that adjusts AI computing workloads to grid conditions · Selected for the Dominion Energy Innovation Center's 2026 Accelerate program.
Informatica
Data integration for the enterprise data platform · Named in an Oct 27, 2026 Dominion Energy job posting for a data platform owner.
Denodo
Data virtualization for the enterprise data platform · Named in an Oct 27, 2026 Dominion Energy job posting for a data platform owner.
Leadership
AI, data and platform leaders
Executives
Board
AI org map
Information technology as a shared corporate service; a Chief AI and Digital Officer since Jul 2026; AI work also in operating teams
Dominion Energy provides information technology to its operating companies through Dominion Energy Services, led by Carlos Brown as Chief Administrative and Projects Officer since Jun 2025. Senior Vice President Wendy Wellener has overseen information technology, cyber and physical security and supply chain within that organization since Jan 2026. Dominion Energy created a Chief Technology Officer role in 2025, and its holder, John Russell, became Vice President and Chief AI and Digital Officer in Jul 2026, with no reporting line published. Dominion Energy's other disclosed AI projects sit in Dominion Energy Virginia operating teams and Electric Transmission.
Dominion Energy has not disclosed an AI or data science headcount. Dominion Energy's information technology function sits in Dominion Energy Services under Carlos Brown and Wendy Wellener, with a Chief Information Officer who has more than 25 years at the company and is not named in filings, and with John Russell as Chief AI and Digital Officer since Jul 2026. Dominion Energy has advertised IT roles on an AI and Emerging Technologies team, and its disclosed AI work also comes from operating teams: a Dominion Energy Virginia team built the misgrid correction system, and Electric Transmission's Strategic Initiatives group, led by director Kevin Jones, includes an Engineering Analytics & Modeling team that applies statistics and machine learning to grid forecasting.
Reporting lines
Chair, President and CEO
Dominion Energy Services
Carlos Brown, EVP and Chief Administrative and Projects Officer
Information technology, security, real estate, facilities, supply chain, environmental services and major construction projects; the line to the CEO is inferred, not published
Administrative Services
Wendy Wellener, SVP
Information technology, cyber and physical security, supply chain, safety and health, workplace development and aviation (since Jan 2026); the line to Carlos Brown is inferred from their remits
Information Technology
Chief Information Officer (not named)
Responsible for hardware, software, networks, servers and telecommunications; more than 25 years at Dominion Energy (2025 Form 10-K); IT job postings name an AI and Emerging Technologies team
Corporate Security
Chief Security Officer (not named)
Converged cyber security, physical security and threat intelligence under a former FBI agent, with a Vice President of Cybersecurity who has more than 30 years at the company
Utility Operations and Dominion Energy Virginia
Ed Baine, EVP
Utility operations in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina; home of the misgrid correction team
Electric Transmission Strategic Initiatives
Kevin Jones, Director
Includes the Engineering Analytics & Modeling team, which applies statistics and machine learning to grid forecasting (Oct 2026 job posting); its director spoke for Dominion Energy in the Oct 2026 PingThings alliance announcement; the line to Ed Baine is inferred
Regulatory and Customer
Corynne Arnett, EVP
Regulatory affairs, customer experience strategy, customer service and revenue management; the contact center where Dominion Energy deployed AI tools (May 2026) is part of customer service
AI and Digital
John Russell, VP and Chief AI and Digital Officer
Named Jul 2026 according to DatacenterDynamics; Russell held the Chief Technology Officer role created in 2025; reporting line not disclosed
Board Safety, Technology, Nuclear and Operations Committee
James A. Bennett, chair
Oversees cybersecurity and the company's initiatives to support technology; Kristin Lovejoy is a member
Dominion Energy's executive leadership page, checked Nov 1, 2026, lists no Chief Information Officer, Chief Technology Officer or Chief AI and Digital Officer; John Russell's appointment comes from DatacenterDynamics and AIM Media House reports of Jul 2026. Dominion Energy's 2025 Form 10-K says the Chief Security Officer, the Vice President of Cybersecurity and the Chief Information Officer are supported by the senior vice president of administrative services, the post Wendy Wellener has held since Jan 2026. If the NextEra Energy combination closes, NextEra's John Ketchum would be chairman and CEO of the combined company and Robert Blue would lead its regulated utilities.
Named people
Use cases
Dominion Energy has disclosed a handful of AI use cases: a machine-learning system that has corrected meter-to-transformer records in production since Sep 2023, AI tools in its contact center (May 2026), approved generative AI tools for employees including Microsoft Copilot, a PingThings alliance to apply AI to grid sensor data (Oct 2026), AI-driven outage forecasting in development, and AI practices planned for the combined company after the NextEra Energy merger. Dominion Energy has reported no business return for any of them and no firm-level AI figure.
| Use case | Area | Status | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Misgrid correction Dominion Energy combines smart-meter data, a machine-learning algorithm and robotic process automation to find and fix meters recorded against the wrong transformer, errors that often went undetected until a field visit and could send crews to the wrong address during outages. The system corrected more than 9,500 misgrids from Sep 2023 to Apr 2025. | Electric distribution | In production | |
| Contact center AI Dominion Energy uses AI in its contact center to see customer needs at scale and read customer sentiment in real time, so staff can respond with more precision, according to CEO Robert Blue on the May 1, 2026 earnings call. Dominion Energy has not named the vendor or published results. | Customer service | In production | |
| Approved generative AI tools for employees Dominion Energy employees may use approved efficiency-enhancing generative AI tools under the company's Generative AI Policy; an Aug 2024 job posting said Microsoft Copilot for Web and Microsoft Copilot for Work were in use. Dominion Energy has not published the number of users. | Firmwide | In production | |
| AI on grid sensor data with PingThings Dominion Energy Virginia and PingThings plan to apply AI to seven years of full-resolution sensor data from transmission lines, substations and transformers to find failing equipment and anticipate outages, under a five-year alliance announced on Oct 28, 2026. The companies say the recorded data pointed to a different cause than engineers first suspected in seven of nine published investigations. | Electric transmission | Announced | |
| AI-driven outage forecasting Dominion Energy is investing in higher-resolution modeling and AI-driven probability and risk forecasts to predict power outages, adding to the in-house meteorology team whose forecasts guide staffing and restoration decisions. | Storm response | Announced | |
| AI in development, construction and operations after the NextEra Energy merger NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy say the combined company would use AI to drive efficiencies in development, construction and operations, and that Dominion Energy's utilities would draw on shared practices in data analytics and AI. | Combined company | Announced |
Adoption
Dominion Energy has not reported how many of its roughly 15,200 employees use AI. Dominion Energy's adoption runs through policy, approved tools and employee programs: Microsoft Copilot tools in use by Aug 2024, a Generative AI Policy that allowed approved tools by Mar 2025, a company-wide AI Policy in 2026, and innovation programs such as Envision Tomorrow, the Innovation Expo and the Chair's Excellence Awards. Dominion Energy's documented production AI systems are misgrid correction, which runs automatically on data from the smart meters installed for nearly all of its Virginia customers, and the contact center AI tools CEO Robert Blue described in May 2026.
By the numbers
Rollout, first pilot to today
Aug 2022
Kristin Lovejoy, founder and former CEO of the AI-powered security platform BluVector, joined Dominion Energy's board as a technology and cybersecurity director.
Sep 2023
Dominion Energy's misgrid correction system, built on smart-meter data, a machine-learning algorithm and robotic process automation, began correcting meter-to-transformer records.
Aug 2024
A Dominion Energy job posting said generative and predictive AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot for Web and Microsoft Copilot for Work were in use within the company.
Sep 2024
Dominion Energy's misgrid correction system won an AEIC Achievement Award from the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies.
2025
Dominion Energy's sustainability report said the company is investing in higher-resolution modeling and AI-driven probability and risk forecasts to predict power outages.
Mar 2025
Dominion Energy's proxy statement disclosed a Generative AI Policy that manages the risks of employee use while allowing approved efficiency-enhancing generative AI tools.
Apr 2025
John Russell became Dominion Energy's Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, a role the company created in 2025 to focus on how technology can speed its mission.
Jan 2026
Wendy Wellener became Dominion Energy's senior vice president of administrative services, overseeing information technology and cyber and physical security.
Mar 2026
Dominion Energy's proxy statement said the company launched an Artificial Intelligence Policy in 2026 covering accountability, safety, validity, fairness, privacy and transparency.
May 2026
Robert Blue told investors that Dominion Energy had recently deployed a range of AI tools, including AI in the contact center, and Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy announced a combination that would use AI in development, construction and operations.
Jul 2026
John Russell was promoted to Vice President and Chief AI and Digital Officer of Dominion Energy.
Oct 2026
Dominion Energy Virginia and PingThings began a five-year alliance to apply AI to more than 5 petabytes of grid sensor data.
Economics & controls
Spend and ROI
Technology budget
Dominion Energy does not break out a technology or IT budget. Dominion Energy's 2026 to 2030 capital plan focuses on upgrading the Virginia electric system, including smart meters, intelligent grid devices and associated control systems, and physical and cyber security investments, according to its 2025 Form 10-K.
What AI costs
Dominion Energy has not disclosed what it spends on AI tools, models, cloud services or compute. Dominion Energy's second- and third-quarter 2026 earnings calls did not discuss AI, and on the May 1, 2026 call CEO Robert Blue described AI tools in the contact center without a cost.
Reported ROI
Dominion Energy has reported no financial return from AI. On the May 1, 2026 earnings call, Robert Blue said Dominion Energy had driven out costs in recent years through improved processes, innovative use of technology and other best practices, in the same remarks that introduced its AI tools, but gave no figure for savings from AI.
Merger economics
NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy say the combined company's scale will let it buy, build, finance and operate more efficiently, and they offered $2.25 billion in bill credits for Dominion Energy customers in May 2026, then proposed in Sep 2026 to extend Virginia residential credits from two years to four. The May 2026 merger announcement and the Jul 2026 joint proxy statement give no dollar figure for savings from AI.
Headcount
Dominion Energy had about 15,200 full-time employees at Dec 31, 2025, about 3,400 of them under collective bargaining agreements and about 6,700 at Virginia Power. Under the merger terms, Dominion Energy's non-union employees would receive 18 months of job protection and 24 months of compensation and benefits protection after closing, and the Sep 2026 Virginia package proposes to keep Virginia headcount at current levels for five years and to add 1,000 direct jobs in Virginia, with the new Richmond presence supporting areas including enterprise technology and cybersecurity.
Governance and risk
Generative AI Policy
Dominion Energy instituted a Generative AI Policy as part of its information technology program, designed to mitigate risks from employee use of generative AI and protect the company, employees and customers without restricting appropriate use of approved efficiency-enhancing tools, according to its Mar 2025 proxy statement.
Artificial Intelligence Policy
Dominion Energy launched an Artificial Intelligence Policy in 2026 that emphasizes accountability, safety, validity, fairness, privacy and transparency in AI deployment and aligns AI use with the company's core values, according to its Mar 2026 proxy statement. Dominion Energy has not published the policy itself.
Board oversight
Dominion Energy's Safety, Technology, Nuclear and Operations Committee, chaired by James A. Bennett, oversees cybersecurity programs and the company's initiatives to support technology. Dominion Energy's board and committees receive reports from the Chief Administrative and Projects Officer, the Chief Security Officer, the Vice President of Cybersecurity, the Chief Information Officer and the Chief Technology Officer, including updates on automation, AI and plans for technological change, and the board's skills matrix lists experience with technologies such as AI under innovation and technology.
AI as a cyber risk
Dominion Energy's 2025 Form 10-K warns that emerging technologies such as advanced automation and AI, which face limited government oversight and evolve rapidly, may increase the frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks. Dominion Energy runs a converged security model that brings cyber security, physical security and threat intelligence under a Chief Security Officer who spent more than 20 years at the FBI, and the Chief Security Officer and Chief Information Officer brief an executive cyber risk council on cyber and privacy risk.
Recent signals
Oct 28, 2026
Dominion Energy Virginia and PingThings launched a five-year Technology Acceleration Alliance to apply AI to more than 5 petabytes of grid sensor data recorded since 2019, with Dominion Energy acting as a reference utility.
Oct 27, 2026
Dominion Energy advertised for an owner of its enterprise data platform, which links cloud and on-premises systems through Informatica and Denodo, with a remit to speed enterprise data, analytics and AI delivery.
Sep 3, 2026
Dominion Energy shareholders approved the merger agreement with NextEra Energy, with about 671 million votes for and 8.6 million against.
Jul 28, 2026
The joint proxy statement said Dominion Energy's board considered NextEra Energy's advanced data analytics and deployment of AI to drive operating efficiency among its reasons to approve the combination.
Jul 17, 2026
LōD Technologies said it would pilot software that shifts AI computing workloads with grid conditions in Dominion Energy's territory, after the Dominion Energy Innovation Center picked it for its 2026 Accelerate program.
Jul 15, 2026
NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy filed for state and federal approval, saying Dominion's utilities would draw on shared practices in workforce tools, data analytics and AI, with closing expected in the second half of 2027.
Jul 2026
Dominion Energy promoted John Russell from Chief Technology Officer to Vice President and Chief AI and Digital Officer.
May 18, 2026
Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy announced an all-stock combination, saying the combined company would use AI to drive efficiencies in development, construction and operations, and made employment commitments to Dominion's roughly 15,000 employees.
May 1, 2026
CEO Robert Blue said on the first-quarter earnings call that Dominion Energy had recently deployed a range of AI tools, including contact center AI that reads customer needs and sentiment in real time.
Mar 19, 2026
Dominion Energy's proxy statement disclosed that the company created a Chief Technology Officer role in 2025 and launched an Artificial Intelligence Policy in 2026.
Feb 23, 2026
Dominion Energy's 2025 Form 10-K reported about 15,200 full-time employees and described AI as a driver of data center demand and of more sophisticated cyberattacks.
Jan 2026
Wendy Wellener took over as Dominion Energy's senior vice president of administrative services, with responsibility for information technology and cyber and physical security.
Quick answers
- How does Dominion Energy deploy AI?
- Dominion Energy runs AI in a few operations, including a machine-learning system that corrected more than 9,500 meter-to-transformer mismatches from Sep 2023 to Apr 2025 and AI tools in its contact center, and lets employees use approved generative AI tools under a 2026 AI Policy. Dominion named John Russell Chief AI and Digital Officer in Jul 2026 but has published no AI user count, budget or return. Dominion's board cited NextEra Energy's AI among its reasons for a merger expected to close in the second half of 2027.
- What does Dominion Energy use AI for?
- Dominion Energy has disclosed a handful of AI use cases: a machine-learning system that has corrected meter-to-transformer records in production since Sep 2023, AI tools in its contact center (May 2026), approved generative AI tools for employees including Microsoft Copilot, a PingThings alliance to apply AI to grid sensor data (Oct 2026), AI-driven outage forecasting in development, and AI practices planned for the combined company after the NextEra Energy merger. Dominion Energy has reported no business return for any of them and no firm-level AI figure.
- Who leads AI at Dominion Energy?
- AI at Dominion Energy is led by John Russell (Vice President and Chief AI and Digital Officer); Wendy Wellener (Senior Vice President, Administrative Services). Ownership of AI on the org chart: John Russell, VP and Chief AI and Digital Officer (Jul 2026); IT under SVP Wendy Wellener in Dominion Energy Services.
- What AI platform does Dominion Energy use?
- Dominion Energy has disclosed no company-wide AI platform; its 2025 proxy statement allows approved generative AI tools, and an Aug 2024 job posting said Microsoft Copilot for Web and Microsoft Copilot for Work were in use.
- Which AI models does Dominion Energy use?
- Dominion Energy's filings name no model provider; the only AI products it has named are Microsoft's Copilot tools (Aug 2024 job posting), and its misgrid system runs a machine-learning algorithm built by a Dominion Energy Virginia team.
- How many Dominion employees use AI?
- Dominion Energy gives no count of employees using AI among its roughly 15,200 full-time staff (Dec 2025); CEO Robert Blue said in May 2026 that the company had recently deployed a range of AI tools, including in its contact center.
- How far has AI spread at Dominion Energy?
- Dominion Energy sits at Piloting: employees could use approved generative AI tools by Mar 2025, a machine-learning system has corrected meter records in production since Sep 2023, AI tools run in the contact center (May 2026), and the company-wide AI Policy only arrived in 2026. Dominion Energy falls short of Scaling because it shows no company-wide AI platform open to most employees, no count of employees using AI, only a handful of production use cases and no reported return, even after naming John Russell Chief AI and Digital Officer in Jul 2026.
Open questions
- Whom does John Russell report to as Chief AI and Digital Officer, how large is his team, and who is Dominion Energy's Chief Information Officer?
- Which generative AI tools has Dominion Energy approved beyond Microsoft Copilot, from which model providers, and how many employees use them?
- Where do Dominion Energy's AI models run: which cloud providers, and which workloads sit in the private cloud a 2026 job posting describes?
- What business return has Dominion Energy's misgrid correction system delivered, for example in avoided field visits or outage response costs?
- What have the contact center AI tools Robert Blue described in May 2026 done to call handling costs or customer satisfaction, and which vendor supplies them?
- Has Dominion Energy's AI-driven outage forecasting moved into production, and what will the PingThings alliance's AI work return?
- What does Dominion Energy's 2026 AI Policy require in practice, such as approval steps, model validation or limits on customer data?
- Will Dominion Energy's utilities adopt NextEra Energy's Google Cloud-based AI program after a close expected in the second half of 2027, and what happens to Dominion's own technology roles?
- How much does Dominion Energy spend on technology and on AI, given that it does not break out an IT budget?
Sources
Dominion Energy
- Executive leadership
- Robert Blue, Chair, President and CEO, biography (Apr 2026)
- Carlos Brown, Chief Administrative and Projects Officer, biography (Feb 2026)
- Wendy Wellener, SVP Administrative Services, biography (Jan 2026)
- Corynne Arnett, Chief Regulatory and Customer Officer, biography (Jan 2026)
- Ed Baine, EVP Utility Operations, biography (Aug 2026)
- 2024 Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility Report (published 2025)
- 2025 CDP climate response
- Press release: NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy to combine (May 18, 2026)
- Press release: NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy file to combine (Jul 15, 2026)
- Press release: Virginia benefits package (Sep 14, 2026)
- Press release: Kristin Lovejoy added to the board (Jul 20, 2022)
- Job posting: Senior Software Engineer, Data Platform Owner (Oct 27, 2026)
- Job posting: Power Systems Time-Series Analytics intern, Engineering Analytics & Modeling (Oct 27, 2026)
- Job posting: Innovation Business Process Analyst intern, naming Microsoft Copilot (Aug 26, 2024, archived)
- Job posting: Business Technology Analyst, AI and Emerging Technologies (closed)
Filings, letters and investor materials
- Dominion Energy 2025 Form 10-K (filed Feb 23, 2026)
- 2026 proxy statement (filed Mar 19, 2026)
- 2025 proxy statement (filed Mar 28, 2025)
- NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy joint proxy statement (dated Jul 24, mailed Jul 28, 2026)
- Form 8-K, special meeting vote results (Sep 3, 2026)
- 2024 Annual Report (published 2025)
- NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy merger presentation (May 18, 2026)
- Q1 2026 earnings call transcript (May 1, 2026), Motley Fool
- Q2 2026 earnings call transcript (Jul 31, 2026), Equibles
- Q3 2026 earnings call transcript (Oct 30, 2026), Gloom
Partners
News and trade press
- DatacenterDynamics: Dominion Energy appoints new chief AI and digital officer (Jul 2026)
- AIM Media House: Dominion Energy appoints John Russell as Chief AI and Digital Officer (Jul 21, 2026)
- Big Dipper Innovation Summit: John Russell speaker biography
- T&D World: Dominion using AI with power grid data to prevent outages (Oct 27, 2026)
- Techcouver: LōD to pilot grid-responsive AI technology with Dominion Energy (Jul 17, 2026)
- jobright.ai copy of a Dominion Energy posting: Senior Software Engineer, AI and Emerging Technologies (2026)
Data confidence
- Confirmed
- Stated in a primary or reputable public source.
- Estimated
- Derived or approximated from public reporting.
- Unconfirmed
- Reported, but not yet corroborated.
Dominion Energy profile · Enterprise AI diffusion report by Imagine · facts checked against their sources on Nov 1, 2026
