State regulators should help solar growth
As the price of solar panels has plummeted and electricity costs have escalated, more homeowners and businesses are installing solar systems on their properties. Folks in Hampton Roads are doing this to save on rising electricity costs, gain energy independence, and participate in the commonwealth’s transition to clean local energy.
But there still are too many who can’t afford to install rooftop solar systems or don’t have rooftops that are suitable for solar arrays. Many residents, including many in Hampton Roads, are renters or live in a multifamily apartment building and aren’t able to control where their energy comes from.
The solution is simple. Community solar gives consumers an option to benefit from solar energy no matter where they live. This concept has been adopted by more than 20 states around the country. If implemented wisely, community solar is an affordable way for people to purchase a “share” of a larger solar system and receive bill credits for the solar power their share produces.
There’s an even brighter side. Community solar garners widespread support that transcends demographics or political affiliation. In 2020, the Virginia legislature passed with bipartisan support Senate Bill 629 allowing community solar. The law directs the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to develop rules for a new community solar program for Dominion Energy customers. According to Sen. Scott Surovell, the bill sponsor, the legislature “envisioned a program where energy customers could access renewable energy at a reasonable cost, and a reasonable minimal bill is essential if these programs are going to attract customers.”
Unfortunately, the intent of this law is being undermined as the SCC is considering proposed rules that would tack on a high minimum bill for solar customers, making it too expensive for most people to participate in community solar.
The culprit is Dominion Energy, a monopoly utility lobbying to impose burdensome administrative costs and create hurdles that would make the program too expensive for most customers. Instead of facilitating the consumer options that its customers want, the monopoly utility is working behind the scenes to kill a program that a vast majority of Virginians would benefit from.
Originally, Dominion proposed administrative costs that would amount to a whopping $75 minimum bill for the average community solar participant. This amount is more than 10 times the base fee paid by any other Dominion Energy residential customer. Even worse, Dominion has failed to produce real data to show why these unfair solar fees are needed.
Now, the SCC appears to be susceptible to Dominion’s bogus argument and is now considering a charge that would amount to a still exorbitant $55 per month minimum bill as a condition for participating in Dominion’s community solar program. This minimum bill would be the highest community solar fee in the nation.
With rising energy costs, consumers are demanding more ways to access solar energy and to save money. In Virginia, Solar United Neighbors has helped more than 1,000 families go solar since 2014. But for many residents, including those who rent or live in a multi-family dwelling, solar is out of reach.
State regulators should choose to listen to a majority of Virginians and respect the original intent of the law by promoting an accessible and cost-effective community solar program. Or they can choose to capitulate to a well-funded monopoly that burdens consumers with higher administrative costs and control their ability to combat rising energy costs by participating in local, homegrown energy.
Virginians can’t afford to let Dominion have their way. That’s why it’s important for Virginians to tell the SCC to reject Dominion’s unfair cost proposal and develop a more reasonable way to bring community solar to the people who need it the most.