Shared solar programs approved by SCC for Dominion customers in Virginia

Customers of Dominion Energy Virginia may now participate in shared solar initiatives, after the State Corporation Commission approved two programs.

Under a shared solar program, a customer purchases a subscription for a certain amount of the kilowatt-hour (kWh) electricity produced by a solar facility.

During the 2020 session of the Virginia General Assembly, legislation was enacted directing the SCC to establish a multi-family shared program and a separate shared solar program.

Multi-family shared solar program

The SCC approved the multi-family shared solar program for Dominion customers.

Under this program, the solar facility is located on or adjacent to a multi-family dwelling (such as an apartment complex). Customers in that multi-family dwelling can subscribe to a portion of the kWh output of the solar facility located next to the dwelling. Customers receive a credit on their utility bill, based on Dominion’s full retail rate, for the kWh amount of the customer’s shared solar subscription.

According to the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville, the administrative charge for the multi-family solar program was set at $16.78 per month, drastically lower than the $87.68 figure Dominion proposed.

SELC filed comments on the hearing examiner’s report that said the larger figure Dominion proposed would have resulted in an “unworkable program.”

“For solar to be a real option in every corner of the Commonwealth, it must be affordable, and it must be accessible even to people who can’t put solar panels on their roofs,” said Josephus Allmond, an associate attorney for SELC. “We applaud the SCC’s decision today to set the monthly administrative charge for participating in Dominion’s multi-family solar program at a figure that more Virginians can afford.”

Shared solar program

The Commission also issued an order confirming its prior approval of a separate shared solar program. Under this program, the solar facility can be located anywhere in Dominion’s territory, and customers of Dominion can subscribe to a portion of the kWh output of this solar facility regardless of the customer’s location.

These customers also receive a credit on their utility bill, based on Dominion’s full retail rate, for the kWh amount of the customer’s shared solar subscription. In addition, because Dominion still delivers the solar facility’s kWh to these customers, the statute creating this shared solar program directs the Commission “to ensure [these] customers pay a fair share of the costs of providing electric services.”

Thus, customers in this program also pay for costs to deliver the solar facility’s kWh to the customer.

According to the SELC, the SCC ruled that the monthly minimum bill for customers participating in Dominion’s shared solar program will remain $55.10, more than eight times the basic customer charge that Virginians with solar on their own homes pay Dominion, and the highest such bill in the country.

“It’s critical that all Virginians have access to clean energy, lower utility bills, and improved air quality. Making sure the price people pay their utility company is affordable is one way we make sure solar is an option for everyone, especially for voluntary programs like shared solar. The enabling legislation’s patrons intended to provide a lower-cost pathway to solar for Virginians of all income levels who were unable to put solar on their own roofs, but today’s decision by the SCC has effectively turned shared solar into a premium program for non-low-income participants,” said Allmond. “Despite this disappointing decision, we’ll keep fighting to deliver equitable, clean energy access to every corner of the Commonwealth.”

SELC’s petition, filed jointly with the Coalition for Community Solar Access and on behalf of Appalachian Voices, asked the Commission to reconsider its decision to set the monthly minimum bill for customers participating in Dominion’s shared solar program at $55.10. Instead, the petition requested that the SCC approve either CCSA’s proposal of $7.58 per month, or a proposal from commission staff of just $10.95 per month.

The petition also sought clarification on what charges low-income customers would need to pay Dominion aside from the monthly minimum bill, from which they are exempt.

In today’s ruling, the SCC clarified that these customers are exempt from the entirety of the minimum bill, including non-bypassable charges.