Rooftop solar offers an array of benefits to help Virginians use more clean energy while bringing down the cost of power for all Virginians, whether they have installed solar power or not.

But to protect their own profits, Virginia's biggest monopoly utility company, Dominion, is trying to make it harder or more expensive for Virginia’s schools, hospitals, and businesses to get their own solar power.

Without approval of state regulators, and entirely on its own, Dominion is trying to impose high fees to install unnecessary equipment on small commercial-scale rooftop solar projects to connect to the public power grid (known as “interconnection”). Because Dominion is the largest utility company in Virginia, serving the state’s most populated regions including Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and the city of Richmond, what they do has a big impact on the state.

Most solar power systems for schools, hospitals and businesses cover only a portion of a customer’s electricity demand and must be connected to the grid so that the customer can continue to get the rest of their power from the utility. The good news is that when a solar customer produces more power than they need, they can send the extra energy into the grid for all customers to use through a system called “net metering.” It’s a win-win situation that spreads clean energy around and brings down costs for all utility customers, even those who don’t have solar power themselves.

In December of 2022, Dominion announced new Interconnection Parameters, requiring small commercial-scale solar projects from 250 kilowatts to 1 megawatt to install expensive equipment before they can connect to the public power grid:

An advanced form of cabling called "dark fiber," which costs $150,000 to $250,000 per mile.
Additional hardware known as a DG Relay panel at $250,000.
Engineering and construction management to make all of these pieces work together can cost $200,000 to $1,200,000 per project.

Dominion claims that this equipment is needed to ensure the reliability of electrical service and the safety of its workers. However, rooftop solar connected to the grid has been safe and effective in Virginia under net-metering rules since 1972, with commercial solar net-metering over the past 13 years. In fact, none of this extra equipment is necessary for a solar project to safely connect to the grid, according to experts.

But these unnecessary costs, which can raise the cost of a solar project by up to 40%, make solar impractical for public schools, churches, local governments, and other public and private customers seeking to achieve their sustainability goals through solar energy. Dominion’s interconnection requirements are especially detrimental for rural schools and communities where Dominion’s distribution grid is least developed, and where customers are least able to afford these costs.

By making solar projects more expensive, Dominion’s interconnection requirements threaten to decimate the Virginia solar industry and trigger massive job losses for solar developers, installers, and many other people employed by these small businesses.

An Initial Victory

A group of Virginia solar installers and developers, mostly small and medium-size businesses, along with environmental groups that support distributed solar power including the Sierra Club, have united in the Virginia Distributed Solar Alliance to make our case that the new costs should be put on hold until state regulators can determine whether Dominion's new requirements are really necessary.

To seek relief, the VA-DSA originally tried to work constructively with Dominion to solve this problem in a way that serves the interest of Virginia's citizens. But when Dominion refused to reconsider its onerous and unnecessary new rules, we asked Virginia's state energy regulators, the State Corporation Commission, for relief:

We sent a letter to Dominion on April 25, 2023 asking the company to voluntarily suspend the Interconnection Parameters until state regulators would have a chance to study the issue. When the company refused in their response of May 4, 2023, then we asked the SCC for informal guidance on how to proceed.
On June 1, 2023 we filed a formal Petition asking the SCC for Injunctive Relief, that is, to immediately require Dominion to suspend the new interconnection requirements until the SCC would have a chance to study and rule on the issue. Our petition included support letters from 11 solar companies and other organizations including large Virginia public school and county organizations harmed by these new Dominion requirements.
On July 31, SCC Hearing Examiner Mary Beth Adams recommended that the interconnection rules be suspended until new regulations on the matter are finalized. Dominion’s rules are “beyond what is permitted” by state law and regulations on interconnection, found Adams who wrote that the “continued implementation of the [rules] will create barriers to interconnection that the Interconnection Statute aims to prevent,” providing “sufficient harm” to justify a suspension until further investigation can occur.
VICTORY! On August 30, 2023, the SCC issued its Final Order in the case, providing the injunctive relief that the VA-DSA requested. The SCC suspended Dominion's new rules as unlawful, retroactive to the date they were issued.

This is an incredibly positive development for clean energy in Virginia and a true example of David beating Goliath.

Compared to other cases at the SCC, our case has proceeded relatively quickly, with the agency taking just three months to review and decide in our favor. That goes to show how obviously illegal Dominion's actions were, and how harmful to the public interest.

This Final Order means that Virginia solar companies can restart numerous solar projects that were put on hold or cancelled due to the impossibly high costs.

We Won A Big Battle. Now, Let's Win the War.

While we have won this battle, the fight to protect rooftop solar against Dominion's arbitrary interconnection rules and unnecessary, burdensome requirements continues. The company could appeal the decision and draw out the process for some time.

So that we can see this case through to the end, and lock in this victory while preventing Dominion from launching similar attacks on rooftop solar in the future, the VA-DSA is seeking help to cover our legal costs.

Members of the VA-DSA have already contributed to this effort. But most solar companies in Virginia are small businesses, lacking the funds for the best representation in the state capital, even while monopoly utilities hire the most expensive lawyers and lobbyists to try to shut us down.

By pooling our funds and relying on people power, solar companies have engaged the experts we need to make our case in Richmond. But to continue the fight against the deep pockets of big utilities, the DSA needs help. If you care about clean energy in Virginia, then please help us keep up the fight for your solar rights!

Stop Dominion From Strangling Solar with Dark Fiber

By Virginia Distributed Solar Alliance

Stop Dominion From Strangling Solar with Dark Fiber

Protect the Right of Virginia Schools, Hospitals & Businesses to Go Solar without Unnecessary High Costs