A solar array for a Virginia elementary school by Sun Tribe.
On July 22, the Virginia State Corporation Commission denied the Coalition for Community Solar Access’ (CCSA) Petition for Reconsideration and Clarification of its recent ruling affecting shared solar in Appalachian Power Company (APCo) territory.
At issue is the “minimum bill” — a mandatory charge customers must pay to participate in shared solar —which has made the economic value proposition for customers untenable unless they qualify as low-income and are exempt.
While 2024 legislation directed the Commission to recalculate this charge to reflect the benefits shared solar provides to the grid and the Commonwealth, the Commission issued only an interim decision on June 30, adopting APCo’s revised proposal — without resolving discrepancies in the utility proposal or confirming key components of the bill’s structure. This decision denied the requested clarification, leaving essential questions unanswered until at least later this year.
Charlie Coggeshall, Mid-Atlantic regional director of the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA), issued the following statement on the ruling:
“Yesterday’s SCC ruling leaves shared solar in Appalachian Power territory in a state of complete uncertainty. Projects are ready to deliver bill savings to customers and clean, reliable energy to the grid. But with the minimum bill — the program’s most critical economic lever — still up in the air, developers have no clear path to move forward.
“Legislation passed last year directed the Commission to ensure shared solar customers are charged fairly, reflecting the full benefits these projects provide to the grid and the Commonwealth. But the Commission’s decision today fails to do that. Instead, it punts core questions about the structure and cost of participation into a future proceeding — likely too late for projects to qualify for remaining federal incentives under the solar Investment Tax Credit, which is being rapidly phased out by the OBBB Act.
“Without a workable and well-defined minimum bill, this program cannot succeed. We urge the Commission to act swiftly this fall to provide regulatory clarity and unlock the savings, jobs, and energy security that shared solar is ready to deliver in Virginia.”
News item from CCSA