Stop New Charges on Solar Power Installations, Chesapeake Climate Action Network

We need your help to protect the growth of solar power in Virginia.

Dominion Virginia Power has asked the state government to approve special charges for some customers who have installed solar panels. These "stand-by charges" would slash the cost savings of those who install large solar power systems on homes and businesses served by Dominion, essentially destroying the market for them.
 
Please submit a comment to the state government to protect the market for large solar power systems in Virginia.

This issue doesn't just concern consumers who own solar panels- it's important for anyone who wants to see Virginia transition to clean, renewable energy. If Dominion get its way, these charges will dramatically slow the growth of solar power in the commonwealth.
As you may expect, solar panels often generate more energy than is needed for any one building in the daytime and not enough energy at night. To address that issue, in Virginia, residents who install solar panels see savings on their electric bill from "net metering."

Under net metering, when a building's solar panels are producing more energy than is needed to power it, the extra electricity feeds into the utility grid, generating credit to offset the cost of electricity that must be bought when the solar panels aren't supplying enough, such as at night. This system helps to encourage the installation of solar panels on homes and businesses, which reduces the commonwealth's contribution to climate change and makes our air and water cleaner, while saving the consumer money.

The General Assembly recently increased the size of solar projects that could qualify for net metering, but it came with a catch: utilities would be allowed to impose an extra "stand-by" charge on these customers.  Utilities say these charges are necessary to compensate them for standing by with available energy at the times when the sun isn't shining. The legislature left it up to the utilities and regulators to determine how much the stand-by charges would be.

Now Dominion Virginia Power, which serves most Virginians, has proposed imposing stand-by charges that are so high that they would make it uneconomic to install these larger systems, essentially destroying the market for the very product the legislature sought to encourage.

Please submit a comment to the state government to protect the market for large solar systems in Virginia.

Thank you for all that you do!


Beth Kemler
Virginia State Director
beth@chesapeakeclimate.org