Heads up to anyone working with solar customers in Virginia - Dominion Energy just filed revisions to their Net Metering Schedule NM-1 effective April 1st. The big change is they're moving from annual net excess generation (NEG) credits to monthly, and reducing the credit rate from retail to wholesale (about $0.035/kWh vs $0.12/kWh). This is going to significantly impact payback calculations for any solar installations sized above monthly consumption.
Virginia Dominion Net Metering Schedule NM-1 Changes
Don, thanks for the heads up. This is a huge change for Virginia solar customers. Do you know if the new tariff grandfathers existing interconnections, or does it apply to everyone? I have several clients with systems that were sized assuming annual netting at retail rates. This could turn profitable systems into marginal ones overnight.
From what I've seen in similar cases with other utilities, existing interconnection agreements are usually honored for 10-20 years, but new applications fall under the revised schedule. Diane, you should definitely have your clients check their original interconnection paperwork for any grandfathering language. Virginia SCC usually provides a comment period too - might be worth filing comments if this hurts existing customers.