Welcome to Community Solar by Preston Knight, Communication Manager
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wintertime celebration is in the air for the sunbaked field that is SVEC’s inaugural community solar project. The switch flipped at the Shenandoah County location in December, and co-op members are now invited to purchase blocks of solar production output to support cleaner energy hitting the power grid. Community solar fills the gap for members who cannot afford, or logistically cannot accommodate, panels at home. Unveiling the program over the winter may not have been the original target, as SVEC and its partners on the project ensured all technical components were in safe, working order. But getting the site in operation and available to members as soon as possible was always the broader goal, and now, everyone can be prepared for the best production months of spring and summer. “We like to say the ‘cleanest’ and most affordable watt of electricity is the watt never produced. That’s why we’ve developed a clean power plan to set our goals for energy efficiency — ways to use less power and ways to use cleaner power to benefit the environment,” says Jason Burch, SVEC’s vice president of engineering. “We are excited to have community solar as one approach to using cleaner power, and we also look forward to learning a lot from it over the years.” SVEC is interested in future community solar sites throughout its service territory. No locations have been identified for development yet. For the first foray into the concept, this page features some of the most common questions. If this opportunity further interests you, please review the accompanying “Community Solar Subscription Rider” on the opposite page.
WHY SHOULD YOU PARTICIPATE? In 2022, SVEC adopted a clean power plan, a document
that puts on paper everything we say we are committed to achieving in being good stewards of the environment. Supporting renewable energy efforts, specifically expanding access to solar, is one component. Community solar is one part of the full equation to reducing the co-op’s carbon footprint and will make solar generation available to residential members who may not otherwise be able to install or own solar of their own. Since at-home solar isn’t practical for all locations and budgets, community solar is an option for everyone. This is a voluntary program, and we understand it’s not going to appeal to all members.
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST TO PARTICIPATE? The subscription rate is currently $5.38 per solar block. Units of solar energy in 50 kWh blocks are available, with a maximum allowed of up to 50% of a location’s lowest monthly use from the previous 12 months. The monthly subscription rate per solar block will be fixed for successive three-year terms, a period that began with the State Corporation Commission’s acceptance of SVEC’s rider in May 2022. The fixed block charge will be updated at the end of each three-year term based on prevailing energy supply costs recovered in the cooperative’s standard rates. IF I SUBSCRIBE, WILL THE ELECTRICITY FROM THE SITE BE DELIVERED TO MY HOME? No, nothing will change about how electricity is currently delivered to you. The renewable energy produced from the community solar site will be added to the electric system where it is interconnected, but its energy will be measured and tracked as part of this program, so you know the solar block(s) you’ve subscribed to are, indeed, produced from the sun.
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For an expanded set of questions and to subscribe to community solar, visit svec.coop/solar.
Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative
12/12/23 11:54 AM