Josh Stanfield, the executive director of the progressive group Activate Virginia who circulated a pledge this year asking Democratic candidates for the House of Delegates to refuse money from Dominion and Appalachian Power, said Northam’s decision to take corporate cash for the inauguration makes it all the more imperative that the new governor deliver on the reforms he championed during the campaign.

“I think this really just ups the ante,” Stanfield said. “OK, you’re going to take this money. Obviously you’re not responsive to the grass-roots pressure on this point. But you were running on a pretty serious, sweeping campaign finance reform. So he’s got to move on it.”

Though Northam called for banning all corporate donations without singling out any particular interest, utilities such as Dominion and Appalachian Power have come under extra scrutiny due to the frequent business they have at the statehouse as regulated utilities. Environmental activists have repeatedly confronted current Gov. Terry McAuliffe over his support for Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline project. That protest activity may continue with Northam even though the governor-elect hasn’t taken a clear stand for or against the pipeline.