The Virginia SREC market is the newest in the country, after the passage of the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) and the creation of the Virginia RPS in 2020. RPS compliance is mandated for two of the state’s utilities, Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Co., which requires the utilities to procure Sell Your Pennsylvania SRECs100% renewable energy by 2045 and 2050 respectively.
Virginia’s Renewable Portfolio Standard
- Virginia’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requires that 100% of the state’s electricity provided by the state’s largest utility, Dominion, be sourced from renewable energy by 2045 and 100% of the state’s electricity provided by the smaller utility, Appalachian Power Co., be sourced from renewable energy by 2050.
- For any given compliance year, Dominion must procure at least one percent (1%) of their RPS obligation from distributed solar, wind, or anaerobic digestion resources.
- The deficiency payment, the penalty fee levied on utilities when they do not procure enough RECs within Virginia from solar, wind, or anaerobic digesters, is currently set at $75 per megawatt hour (1000 kWh) and will increase by one percent (1%) year-over-year after 2021.
- Solar owners should sign up for SRECs as soon as possible, since electricity produced before registration may not be eligible for SREC production.
- SRECs can be sold for up to five calendar years after their date of creation in Virginia. Therefore, customers with GATS-registered systems who generate an SREC today will be able to sell their SREC up until the end of 2026.
- Please note, as we wait for finalized information from the SCC on the Virginia SREC market, your SRECs up to three years old can be sold in Pennsylvania’s Tier I REC market. Therefore, Virginia customers who have GATS-registered systems will still be able to sell their SRECs, provided they were generated in the last three years.
- If you would like to learn more about Virginia’s RPS you can visit the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s (SCC) website.
Registration Guidelines
- Customers must submit a copy of their signed interconnection agreement and a signed contract before we can register the solar energy system.
- Upon receipt of all documentation, Sol Systems will register a customer’s solar energy system with the the Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS), the regulatory body that mints SRECs.
- Sol Systems does not charge a registration fee.
Payment Timeline
Sol Systems makes payments to Sol Annuity, Sol Brokerage, Sol Combo, and Sol Profit Share customers on a quarterly basis per the following schedule.
Generation Quarter | SREC Payment |
---|---|
Q1: January, February, and March | May |
Q2: April, May, and June | August |
Q3: July, August, and September | November |
Q4: October, November, and December | February |
For example, on the last business day in May, Sol Systems will issue payments to customers whose energy production passes a 1000 kWh threshold in Quarter 1 (January-March) and their SREC has sold.
Sol Systems customers can receive their payment via paper check or direct deposit.