On Monday, July 23, 2018 Secure Futures CEO and President Tony Smith and Policy Analyst Rachel Smucker made the following recommendations to the Virginia Solar Energy Development Authority regarding Virginia’s Energy Plan:
· In 2016, according to the National Solar Jobs Census, there were just over 260,000 solar jobs in the U.S. Three-thousand of those jobs were held by our fellow Virginians.
· Based on NOA statistics, Richmond and other cities have experienced a 1.5% increase per year on their cooling loads due to the effects of Climate Change.
· Now if Virginia were to commit to producing 10% of residential electricity consumption from solar, we could create over 50,000 new jobs here in the Common Wealth.
· Going back to the National Solar Jobs Census of 2016, it shows that approx.. 69% of total solar jobs in the U.S. were in the residential and commercial market segment, while only 31% were in the utility-scale market segment.
· There is a huge economic impact that results from distributed generation solar because those projects tap into local talent and local sourcing at a higher rate than utility-scale projects.
· Companies like Secure Futures would support a much more balanced approach to meeting the state’s solar needs. We can’t just survive on utility-scale solar. We need residential and commercial scale solar, as well, to truly tap into our greatest job and economic potential.
· The Virginia Energy Plan should seek to increase the state’s PPA pilot program, per the VSEDA 2017 Annual Report that states “expanding third party ownership options beyond utility pilots and allow all sectors to participate” (14) as a significant way to reduce barriers for the commercial, industrial, and residential market segment.
· The Energy Plan should also seek to raise the NEM project cap to 2 MW, and the total cap to 10% of peak demand, and to encourage SCC staff to conduct an analysis on removing the cap altogether.
· Lastly, as we seek to modernize our grid through the Grid Modernization Act of 2018, Virginia should also seek to modernize the utility business model to better meet the needs of our current times. We propose that the SCC and/or legislature encourage the utilities to engage with stakeholders to develop a new business model that incentivizes utilities by rewarding them for performance in helping to achieve Virginia Energy Policy goals as well as Virginia Economic Development goals. Hawaii offers a precedent in HB 2939.
Secure Futures, LLC. - Comments for Virginia Energy Policy
Increase Dominion PPA Cap: The Dominion PPA pilot is now capped at 1 MW per project, and 50 MW overall. The APCO total cap is at 7 MW total. There are no PPA’s registered yet in APCO territory. Total Dominion territory PPAs are now at 7.3 MW, that increased by 5 MW in just the past six months. We are seeing an accelerating trend in Dominion territory. Based on projections from Sun Tribe and Secure Futures, and solar PPA RFP’s now in the pipeline, we anticipate we will approach the 50 MW cap by Q4 in 2019 in Dominion territory. To avoid a start-stop in our industry next year, we need to raise the project cap to 2 MW, and the total ceiling to 200 MW for Dominion in this legislative season, to take effect July 1, 2019, and encourage the SCC staff to conduct an analysis on removing the cap altogether and to make it a permanent part of the Code.
Increase Net-metering Cap: The NEM cap per project is 1 MW, and total is 1% of peak demand. Per Ken Jurman, in Dominion we are 10% of peak, and for APCO, at 25%. We would propose raising the project cap to 2 MW, and the total cap to 10% of peak demand, and to encourage SCC staff to conduct an analysis on removing the cap altogether.
Explore Utility Incentives for DG: We discussed ways to incentivize utilities to invest in third-party owned solar, be they residential customers or third party owned commercial PPAs. Utilities can benefit from the efficiency of the private sector, earn a higher return for ratepayers than utility-owned solar, and stimulate more jobs and investment in Virginia by co-investing in DG solar. We propose that the SCC and/or legislature encourage the utilities to engage with stakeholders to develop a new business model that incentivizes utilities by rewarding them for performance in helping to achieve Virginia Energy Policy goals as well as Virginia Economic Development goals. Hawaii offers a precedent in HB 2939.
Virginia Solar Jobs Brief
Secure Futures, LLC.
Virginia’s Solar Job Potential— A Synopsis
I. What’s At Stake?
II. Solar Creates Jobs
a. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, solar power employed 43%of the Electric Power Generation sector's workforce vs. fossil fuels employed 22%(2016); and in Virginia, there are1,273 new solar jobs since 2015 and a 64.90% solar jobs growth rate in 2016.
b. In other words… Solar makes up just under 2% of overall U.S. energy generation, yet it employs twice as many workers as the coal industry, almost five times as many as nuclear power, and nearly as many workers as the natural gas industry.
c. The National Solar Jobs Census 2016 found of the 260,077 solar jobs in 2016, approximately 69 percentof those jobs were in the residential and commercial markets segment, while 31 percent were in the utility-scale solar market.
d. As of 2017, there are 250,271 solar workersin the United States. – Solar Jobs Census, The Solar Foundation
III. Virginia’s Solar Job Potential
IV. The Economic Impact: Utility-scale vs. Distributed Generation
V. Tale of Six States: Utility Solar vs Distributed Generation Solar
Navy blue bars indicate share of solar installed by utilities. All other colors represent distributed generation solar. How could Virginia achieve a more balanced DG solar market in the future, more like Maryland, and less like North Carolina, by incentivizing utilities to support DG?
Rooftop Solar States with less than 50% utility solar |
Utility Solar States with greater than 80% utility solar
|
Source: 2016 SEIA Data
VI. Testimonies
VII. Bottom line
“The economic arguments between big and small can’t be taken at face value, because the largest players have a vested (dare I say oversized?) interest in the outcome. Can scale economies generate cheaper electricity? Sometimes. But smaller renewable energy systems can also compete at the retail level, where their relative benefit (and the costs they offset) is also higher.
The choice between big and small is more than a spreadsheet analysis. Instead, it’s an argument about whether the economic windfall of the renewable energy transition will accrue to the incumbent players or whether tapping the wind and sun in communities across America will result in benefits everyone can share.”
– Report: Is Bigger Best in Renewable Energy, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, 2016