SCC approves Dominion Energy Virginia grid transformation plan

The State Corporation Commission has approved Dominion Energy Virginia’s plan for electric distribution grid transformation projects that the company seeks to deploy in 2022 and 2023.

In its petition, the company proposed projects that focus on grid reliability and are designed to accommodate or facilitate the expected increase in distributed energy resources resulting from recent policy developments, including the Virginia Clean Economy Act and FERC Order 2222.

After consideration of the case record, the Commission approved many of the Phase II projects subject to certain requirements, including cost caps. Among other projects, the Commission approved the company’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure proposal, which it had previously denied.

The Commission’s approval was based on several factors, including that the company provided a timeline for system-wide implementation of time-varying rates and now has an active experimental time-of-use rate, which requires AMI.

The Commission also approved a pilot-like proposal for two previously denied grid technologies projects: intelligent grid devices and fault location, isolation and service restoration. The Commission found these projects are targeted at feeder segments with below-average reliability.

The Commission also directed the company to take certain specific actions in implementing the approved Phase II projects and in filing its next petition. The Commission stated the company should continue to perform a robust cost-benefit analysis going forward. The company should also include a more thorough projection of distributed energy resources penetrations and anticipated reliability impacts.

The Phase II projects are grouped into several categories of related elements with associated costs:

• Advanced Metering Infrastructure, including deployment of approximately 1.1 million smart meters and associated infrastructure – $198.3 million
• The continued development of a customer information platform – $203.9 million
• Grid infrastructure, which comprises targeted corridor improvements and voltage island mitigation – $27.7 million
• Multiple grid technologies – $194.42 million
• Telecommunications – $102 million
• Cyber security – $9.3 million
• Physical security – $37.5 million
• Customer education – $3 million