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The State Corporation Commission won’t allow Walmart or Sam’s Club to shop for new electricity suppliers at the expense of captive ratepayers of Virginia’s two largest monopoly utilities.

The two sister companies had sought to use alternative suppliers of electricity to serve 164 stores in Virginia, but the SCC ruled Monday that the proposal would harm residential and small-business customers of Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power Co. by increasing their monthly rates.

The commission found that permitting Walmart and Sam’s Club to bypass the utilities would cost Dominion customers $65 million and Apco customers $4 million over the next 10 years by allowing the companies to aggregate the electricity needs of all their stores in the state.

“We are aware of the commission’s decision and are reviewing our options,” Walmart spokesman Phillip Keene said.

While the effect on the typical residential customer’s monthly bill would be relatively small — 13 cents a month for Dominion and 5 cents a month for Apco — the SCC said allowing the companies to shop around would expose monopoly ratepayers who already face higher rates because of legislation the General Assembly adopted last year for the two utilities.