Dominion Virginia Power gets go-ahead for solar plan

Nov 29, 2012 - The State Corporation Commission (SCC) in Virginia said Wednesday it had okayed a solar power programme proposed by US power distribution firm Dominion Virginia Power, part of Dominion Resources Inc (NYSE:D).

The company plans to build and operate solar systems on commercial, industrial and government land leased from businesses and public entities. The solar facilities will have capacities in the range of 500 kW - 2 MW each. The programme represents a demonstration project designed to evaluate the benefits of solar distributed generation for Dominion Virginia Power's distribution system.

The SCC said it had put a USD-80-million (EUR 62m) cap on the cost of the project that can be charged to the utility's clients. Dominion Virginia Power was seeking approval for USD 111 million in spending, excluding financing costs.

The regulator is still considering the company's plan to buy solar power directly from residential and small businesses who have already constructed their own solar arrays. Under the proposal, there would be a 3-MW limit on that project.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.772)

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