Instead of being supportive of the child’s educational endeavors or simply not responding, Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx chose this moment to respond with vitriol.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina, taught a child a very important lesson. You’re never too young to learn that politicians will fail you.

Foxx made headlines in May when she responded to a 10-year-old Greensboro student named Christian Mango, who wrote to the congresswoman proposing a $5,000 tax credit for people buying electric vehicles. Christian sent the letter as part of a school project where the kids were challenged to write persuasive essays on topics of their choosing.

Instead of being supportive of the child’s educational endeavors or simply not responding, Foxx chose this moment to respond with vitriol, according to a letter dated May 1 that Christian’s mother, Emily, shared on social media.

“Please ask your teacher to explain propaganda to you,” Foxx wrote. “While I will never be able to know, my guess is that your teachers will not give you a good educational experience and help you learn to think, as they are too interested in indoctrinating you. How sad.”

This would be a wild response to receive as any constituent – let alone one who’s still in elementary school. Foxx – a former educator and the former chair of the Committee on Education and the Workforce – should know that the best answer to someone you disagree with is no response. Especially if the person you disagree with is a 10-year-old.

PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. (WSET) — A proposed $67 billion merger between Florida-based NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy could reshape the utility landscape in Virginia and affect what customers pay on their power bills.

NextEra Energy has agreed to acquire Dominion Energy in a deal that would create the largest regulated utility company in the country. The merger would require state approval before it could move forward.

Dominion Energy says the merger will put more money in customers’ pockets. The company has promised to distribute more than $2 billion to customers within two years after the merger is complete, with 80% of that money going to customers in Virginia.

Dominion Energy describes the deal as a move focused on “growth, scale, and affordability.” A spokesperson for the company said the merger would “strengthen our ability to meet this historic demand.”

Virginia Tech public policy professor David Bieri said that demand is being driven by data centers. Bieri said, “Part of the reason why the acquisition is happening is because it gives NextEra access to the honey pot or profit areas.”

Dominion Energy serves much of Southside Virginia, including the Halifax, South Boston, Chatham and Gretna areas, and also covers parts of Concord, Appomattox, Altavista and Lexington.

Sen. Mark Peake, R-District 8, represents some of those areas in the Virginia Senate. ABC13 asked whether he believes the merger will be good for his constituents.

Peake said, “Well, I hope I will say the one thing that I’ve heard is that my understanding is that there will be a rebate to Dominion customers, which should be an amount equal to offset the RGGI charges that the Spanberger administration has hit Dominion, well, all customers with.”

But Peake also said he is not happy that NextEra is an outside state company and wants to keep power company’s operating locally.

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While Dominion Energy said, “The merger won’t impact how we operate in Virginia or how we serve our customers. We’ll continue operating as Dominion Energy Virginia, and our customers will continue receiving the same service, from the same team, in the same way they always have. We’ll remain headquartered in Richmond with the same utility leadership. So lots of continuity.”

Before any merger benefits could reach customers, the deal would need approval from regulators, including Virginia’s State Corporation Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Delegate Madison Whittle, who represents parts of Pittsylvania County and Halifax County, said, “There are already projections that ‘rates will go down’ and that ‘rates will go up.’ I do not think there is enough public information at this point to determine either. While the companies have suggested a $2.25 Billion package of ‘bill credits’ spread over 2 years among Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, regulators must look at total overall cost to customers. For us, it will be important to look to the Virginia State Corporation Commission. The State Corporation Commission (SCC) will continue to regulate Dominion Energy’s rates, infrastructure, and operations in the state if it combines with NextEra. State utility regulation remains mandatory, and the SCC must approve the merger itself before it can be finalized.”

Bieri cautioned that the merger is not guaranteed. “This is the intent to merge that is very important, it is not a done deal because the most important thing is that this deal needs to be approved by a variety of federal and state regulators,” he said. Bieri added, “The government can say ‘no,’ as is often the case for a variety of anti-trust and other reasons.”