My name is Caroline Heilbrun, and I am from Fairfax Station, Virginia. I believe that Virginia can still work within the system of utility ownership of solar and storage to modernize the grid.
I understand that Dominion, Virginia’s biggest investor-owned utility, has led the charge for deployment of renewables and storage in large part because so many are utility-scale and utility-owned. Dominion is wary of the impacts of customer ownership on the grid (e.g. too much midday backfeed) and revenue loss. Third party owned solar and net metering are thus greatly restricted in the state. I recognize that Dominion leverages the best resources and economies of scale to modernize the grid. However, there are ways they can meet customer demand for renewables while still meeting grid modernization initiatives and maintaining control of the system, so that grid operators can generate and dispatch electricity when the grid needs it.