20 Va. Admin. Code § 5-340-40

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 22, June 17, 2024

Section 20VAC5-340-40 - Registration with the utility

A. Subscriber organizations, licensed or otherwise, shall register each proposed shared solar facility with the utility by entering into an agreement containing information as prescribed in this section.

B. A subscriber organization shall provide proof of licensure by the commission, as applicable.

C. A subscriber organization shall submit to the utility the full name of the subscriber organization, address, and type of entity (e.g. partnership, corporation, etc.).

D. Subscriber organizations shall provide the identity of the shared solar facility participating in the shared solar program, including an address of record and a copy of the executed interconnection agreement for the shared solar facility. Subscriber organizations also shall state the amount of capacity for the facility, meeting or exceeding the minimum of 30%, that will be subscribed by low-income subscribers and provide proof that non-ministerial permits have been obtained for the shared solar facility.

E. For a low-income shared solar facility, the subscriber organization shall provide a copy of its low-income subscription plan, as applicable.

F. Subscriber organizations and the utility shall exchange the names, telephone numbers, and email addresses of appropriate internal points of contact to address operational, business coordination, and customer account issues, and the names and addresses of their registered agents in Virginia.

G. In the event a license granted under 20VAC5-340-30 is transferred to another entity with approval from the commission, the subscriber organization must notify the utility within five business days of approval by the commission.

H. The utility may require reasonable financial security from the subscriber organization to safeguard the utility and its customers from the reasonably expected net financial impact due to the nonperformance of the subscriber organization. The amount of such financial security shall be commensurate with the level of risk assumed by the utility. Such financial security may include a letter of credit, a deposit in an escrow account, a prepayment arrangement, a surety bond, or other arrangements that may be mutually agreed upon by the utility and the subscriber organization.

I. The utility shall notify the subscriber organization within 30 days of the commission's issuance of a subscriber organization's licensure after the subscriber organization submits a shared solar facility registration to the utility whether the shared solar facility has been awarded capacity in the program queue or placed on a waiting list. When awarded capacity in the program queue, the subscriber organization shall pay to the utility a security deposit in the amount of $50 per kilowatt (kW) of alternating-current rated capacity of the shared solar facility within 10 days. This deposit shall be held by the utility in an interest-bearing account. Deposits shall be returned in full, including interest, upon commercial operation of the shared solar facility and demonstration that low-income subscription requirements have been met. As program capacity is awarded, the utility shall ensure that the cumulative capacity of such projects meets or exceeds 30% of project capacity (or savings equivalent) for low-income customers as demonstrated by approved low-income subscription plans. Subscriber organizations deemed bona fide nonprofits shall be exempt from the $50 per kW alternating current (AC) utility deposit.

J. If a project fails to reach mechanical completion within 24 months of the date it was awarded capacity, the utility shall remove the project from the program queue unless the subscriber organization of the project provides to the utility an additional deposit of $25 per kW to maintain its position within the program queue. If, after paying the additional deposit, the project still fails to reach mechanical completion within an additional 12 months, the utility shall remove the project from the program queue.

K. The utility shall maintain, on a publicly available website, a list of projects accepted into the program queue and those projects that are on the wait list. This project list shall rank projects primarily by the date of the awarded capacity and secondarily by the date of a fully executed interconnection agreement. The utility shall update the list within two business days of any change to the projects in the program queue. The list shall include project applicant name, project location, the alternating current capacity rating of the project, the date the application was accepted into the program queue, and whether the project is a low-income shared solar facility.

L. Any project on the wait list that is moved off the wait list and receives a capacity award in the program queue shall have 10 business days to make the required deposit of $50 per kW of alternating-current rated capacity to retain the project's award.

M. As part of its public program queue, the utility shall monitor and report the amount of capacity that has been allocated to low-income customers, which also shall be published on the utility's website. Upon qualification of 45 megawatts (MW) of alternating current (AC) of capacity committed to low-income subscribers as demonstrated by the approved low-income subscription plans of projects that have secured capacity in the program, the utility shall submit a request to the commission to release an additional 50 MW of capacity for the program which shall be released without undue delay and allocated first to projects on the wait list and, if capacity remains, to new applicants on a first-come, first-served basis following the registration requirements and process set forth in this section.

20 Va. Admin. Code § 5-340-40

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 37, Issue 11, eff. 1/1/2021.

Statutory Authority: § 12.1-13 and 56-594.3 of the Code of Virginia.