Installing a solar panel system on your property needs to be coordinated with several authorities and parties: your HOA, your county or city and your energy service provider and electric distributor.
Dominion Energy
We’ll take a close look at Dominion Energy. The utility has a monopoly in the cities and counties in Virginia where they operate. They recently changed their name and were called Dominion Power for many years, or you may know it as VEPCO.
20VAC5-315-30. Company Notification.
A. A prospective agricultural net metering customer or a prospective net metering customer (hereinafter referred to as “customer”) shall submit a completed commission-approved notification form to the electric distribution company and, if different from the electric distribution company, to the energy service provider, according to the time limits in this subsection. If the prospective customer has contracted with another person to own or operate, or both, the generator or generators, then the notice will include detailed, current, and accurate contract information for the owner or operator, or both, including without limitation, the name and title of one or more individuals responsible for the interconnection and operation of the generator or generators, a telephone number, a physical street address other than a post office box, a fax number, and an email address for each such person.
1. A residential customer shall notify its supplier and receive approval to interconnect prior to installation or adding capacity to an electrical generating facility. The electric distribution company shall have 30 days from the date of notification to determine whether the requirements contained in 20VAC5-315-40 have been met. The date of notification shall be considered to be the third day following the mailing of the notification form by the prospective customer.
2. A nonresidential customer shall notify its supplier and receive approval to interconnect prior to installation or adding capacity to an electrical generating facility. The electric distribution company shall have 60 days from the date of notification to determine whether the requirements contained in 20VAC5-315-40 have been met. The date of notification shall be considered to be the third day following the mailing of the notification form by the prospective customer.
B. Thirty-one days after the date of notification for a residential customer, and 61 days after the date of notification for a nonresidential customer, the prospective customer may interconnect and begin operation of the generating facility unless the electric distribution company or the energy service provider requests a waiver of this requirement under the provisions of 20VAC5-315-80 prior to the 31st or 61st day, respectively. In cases where the electric distribution company or energy service provider requests a waiver, a copy of the request for waiver must be mailed simultaneously by the requesting party to the prospective customer and to the commission’s Division of Energy Regulation.
C. The electric distribution company shall file with the commission’s Division of Energy Regulation a copy of each completed notification form within 30 days of final interconnection.
Statutory Authority
§§ 12.1-13 and 56-594 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from Volume 16, Issue 20, eff. May 25, 2000; amended, Virginia Register Volume 21, Issue 18, eff. April 26, 2005; Volume 23, Issue 03, eff. September 26, 2006; Volume 30, Issue 23, eff. July 1, 2014; Volume 32, Issue 09, eff. December 28, 2015.
Website addresses provided in the Virginia Administrative Code to documents incorporated by reference are for the reader’s convenience only. This may not necessarily be active or current, and should not be relied upon. To ensure the information incorporated by reference is accurate, the reader is encouraged to use the source document described in the regulation.
As a service to the public, the Virginia Administrative Code is provided online by the Virginia General Assembly. We are unable to answer legal questions or respond to requests for legal advice, including application of law to specific fact. To understand and protect your legal rights, you should consult an attorney.
Source: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title20/agency5/chapter315/section30/
Conclusion:
After a solar installer has submitted an interconnection request to Dominion after receiving approval to install, the installer can turn the system on after 30 days if the customer didn’t receive a waiver, for a residential or commercial (solar for business) project – for non residential projects, we discuss this more on our page about the financial benefits of solar for business.
That is what the law says.
