The Virginia State Corporation Commission approved, subject to certain requirements, Phase II of the Grid Transformation Plan (GT Plan), the Company’s ten-year plan to transform the electric distribution grid.
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This approval aligns with the customer-focused, state regulated utility framework in Virginia. That framework has resulted in nationally leading decarbonization goals, customer rates lower than national and regional averages and high levels of reliability for customers, made possible by a state regulatory model that embraces long-term planning and resiliency safeguards.
“This is another major step forward in building a clean energy economy in Virginia. This includes the largest offshore wind project in the nation, re-licensure of our nuclear units, energy storage, and solar energy, all of which creates jobs and economic opportunity here in the Commonwealth. As we bring more renewable energy onto our grid to build a cleaner future, and focus on increasing resiliency, we must modernize the way the system works,” said Charlene Whitfield, senior-vice president of Power Delivery at Dominion Energy Virginia. “decision by the SCC ensures that we can remain agile as a company to deliver the reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy that our customers want and expect.”
Phase II of the GT Plan focuses on investments needed to facilitate and optimize the integration of distributed energy resources, such as small-scale solar, energy storage facilities, and electric vehicles. To effectively integrate these energy resources distributed throughout the grid, the Company will continue to deploy smart metering infrastructure and intelligent grid devices that will provide visibility of grid conditions. The Company will also invest in the infrastructure and systems to process, manage, and use that data to optimize grid operations and improve customer reliability.
The SCC ruling today approved over $650M of investments in 2022 and 2023. The Company can seek recovery of those costs in a future proceeding.
Phase I of the Grid Transformation Plan is already underway with activities to enhance the reliability and security of the distribution grid as well as the development of a new customer information platform (CIP). The CIP will provide beneficial information enabling customers to make better decisions about their usage and bills.
Recent federal and state clean energy policies as well as commitments and incentives to speed the transition to electric vehicles have accelerated the need for a transformed energy grid capable of supporting significant volumes of renewables, batteries, and other distributed energy resources.