Central Virginia Electric Cooperative is the first cooperative to receive approval of the Community Solar Tariff by the Virginia State Corporation Commission under the new statute. CVEC filed its Community Solar Rate with the SCC for approval on December 6, 2017, and launched Solar Share, its community solar program, in March 2018. Since receiving this final approval from the SCC, members of CVEC are officially able to subscribe to Solar Share and add more green energy to their power supply.
Under the approved rate, CVEC is offering residential members the option of subscribing to 50-kilowatt-hour blocks of solar energy at a cost of $4.50 per block. A total of 11,000 blocks are available for subscription — members will be limited to five blocks initially due to anticipated demand. Over 30 percent of the shares available have already been subscribed by members, many of which were reserved during the “pre-sale” in March 2018 when Solar Share was unveiled.
“Solar Share provides a solution for members who wish to benefit from harvesting locally sourced solar energy but are not able to install solar panels on their homes or businesses,” Melissa Gay, CVEC communications and member services manager, said. Solar Share guarantees the same amount of energy each month and is not subject to equipment maintenance or failure. Members who subscribe will have the option of adding solar energy to their power supply without the upfront capital investment for construction of solar panels on their home and the rate is fixed for 25 years. Shares can be surrendered at any time for any reason with no penalty.
The solar energy will be harvested locally from two solar facilities along the I-64 corridor that will provide a total of 10 megawatts of solar power. Four of the 10MW generated in Fluvanna and Goochland counties will be allotted to the Solar Share program for subscription by CVEC members, making it one of only three distribution cooperatives in the nation to offer four or more MW of community solar energy to its members. The remaining 6MW will be added to CVEC’s diversified energy portfolio for use by all members.
The 10MW combined output from the solar facilities will provide CVEC about 3 percent of the power needed annually for its members. The addition of the solar offering enhances CVEC’s mission to offer reliable and affordable energy while furthering its commitment to add renewable resources to its power supply portfolio.
Headquartered in Lovingston, Central Virginia Electric Cooperative is a member-owned electric distribution utility serving over 36,000 meters in 14 counties across central Virginia. For more information about Central Virginia Electric Cooperative and Solar Share, visit the company's website at www.mycvec.com.