A photo voltaic array for a Virginia elementary college by Solar Tribe.
On July 22, the Virginia State Company Fee denied the Coalition for Neighborhood Photo voltaic Entry’ (CCSA) Petition for Reconsideration and Clarification of its current ruling affecting shared photo voltaic in Appalachian Energy Firm (APCo) territory.
At situation is the “minimal invoice” — a compulsory cost clients should pay to take part in shared photo voltaic —which has made the financial worth proposition for patrons untenable except they qualify as low-income and are exempt.
Whereas 2024 laws directed the Fee to recalculate this cost to mirror the advantages shared photo voltaic gives to the grid and the Commonwealth, the Fee issued solely an interim determination on June 30, adopting APCo’s revised proposal — with out resolving discrepancies within the utility proposal or confirming key parts of the invoice’s construction. This determination denied the requested clarification, leaving important questions unanswered till no less than later this yr.
Charlie Coggeshall, Mid-Atlantic regional director of the Coalition for Neighborhood Photo voltaic Entry (CCSA), issued the next assertion on the ruling:
“Yesterday’s SCC ruling leaves shared photo voltaic in Appalachian Energy territory in a state of full uncertainty. Tasks are able to ship invoice financial savings to clients and clear, dependable vitality to the grid. However with the minimal invoice — this system’s most crucial financial lever — nonetheless up within the air, builders haven’t any clear path to maneuver ahead.
“Laws handed final yr directed the Fee to make sure shared photo voltaic clients are charged pretty, reflecting the total advantages these tasks present to the grid and the Commonwealth. However the Fee’s determination in the present day fails to try this. As an alternative, it punts core questions in regards to the construction and value of participation right into a future continuing — probably too late for tasks to qualify for remaining federal incentives underneath the photo voltaic Funding Tax Credit score, which is being quickly phased out by the OBBB Act.
“With out a workable and well-defined minimal invoice, this program can’t succeed. We urge the Fee to behave swiftly this fall to supply regulatory readability and unlock the financial savings, jobs, and vitality safety that shared photo voltaic is able to ship in Virginia.”
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