UPDATE: December 17, 2020: Dominion South Carolina submitted a proposal to regulators that would reduce the export rate of solar energy for net metering customers and add network access charges and a monthly subscription cost for solar homeowners.
Proponents of solar and clean energy, such as the Solar Energy Industries Association, say the proposed changes ignore the intent of South Carolina’s 2019 Energy Freedom Act, which has led utilities to successor net metering plans.
But Dominion said the recent proposals met the expectations of the state legislature “to reform the current model so that it better aligns the benefits with the cost of the service and addresses major changes in the sector as a whole,” according to a spokesman.
Dive summary:
- The South Carolina Public Service Commission unanimously rejected a three-year integrated resource plan from Dominion Energy on behalf of former South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE & G), requiring changes to the utility, including more renewable energy resources .
- As the new owner of SCANA Corp. and from its utility subsidiary, SCE & G, Dominion also sought a 7.7% fee increase, which was contested by Governor Henry McMaster. On November 24, McMaster wrote to Rodney Blevins, president of Dominion’s South Carolina dealership, urging the company to reconsider “in the midst of a pandemic”. The increase is still pending in the PSC.
- The IRP proposed by Dominion did not include changes to renewable energy resources within three years in the eight different plans drawn up as part of the process, although the utility company was seen as following the direction of the state’s Freedom of Energy Act. Regulators also instructed Dominion to assess a demand-side high-management scenario in future filings and “start showing the coal withdrawal” in its 2023 IRP, after completing its coal withdrawal study.
Dive Insight:
PSC President Justin Williams made a motion to demand significant changes to the proposed plan, specifically to reshape the costs of the various plans that Dominion outlines using South Carolina Solar Business Alliance’s specified capacity and cost assumptions for its 2020 IRP .
“We will thoroughly review the final Public Service Commission order on the IRP and make the necessary revisions in a timely manner,” said Dominion spokeswoman Rhonda Maree O’Banion.
Dominion must submit the modified IRP within 60 days of the December 9th order. Given that the updated version will inform Dominion’s 2021 IRP, the PSC voted to set a new filing date for the subsequent plan after approval of the 2020 IRP.
“The Short Term Action Plan included with the Modified IRP 2020 should include steps or planning necessary to achieve DSM adoption rates consistent with the economically viable and achievable levels of projected DSM,” said the request.
The concessionaire must conduct a “load loss expectation study” to model the reserve requirements necessary for the concessionaire. The IRP should also show “the range of cost impacts for consumers, including both the potential additional revenue requirements and the account impacts in the various modeled scenarios”.
Dominion was instructed to coordinate with the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Officials (ORS) to begin establishing a stakeholder process for the new plan.
According to the ORS, which is also a player in the case of fees, customer accounts in 2021 would increase to $ 131.99 per month from the current $ 122.31, resulting in an increase in total revenue of $ 178 million.
The PSC did not address the impact of COVID-19 in relation to the tariff increase. However, Governor McMaster wrote that the increase needed to be considered in the “appropriate context” for Dominion’s success.
“[I]It is my understanding that the parent company of Dominion has a current market capitalization of more than $ 60 billion and appears to be on its way to issue one of its biggest dividends to shareholders in recent history, “he wrote.
“We recognize that there may never be an ideal time to request a rate review. We have been helping our clients who are struggling financially with the pandemic,” said O’Banion.
McMaster also wrote that he appreciates “Dominion’s willingness to invest in South Carolina, as well as Dominion’s continued efforts to repair the damage caused by its predecessor,” SCANA, which faces multiple charges of fraud over the abandoned nuclear project VC Summer.
Dominion, who had announced plans in May to pay security penalties for the abandoned nuclear project that SCANA and the previous SCE& G were involved in formalizing an agreement in early December to pay the $ 25 million fine for civil resources on behalf of SCANA.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina filed criminal charges, as well as the multimillion dollar civil fine against SCANA. The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint in February alleging that SCANA, SCE & G and two former executives knew that the VC Summer project was late and would hardly qualify for the more than $ 1 billion in tax credits that had been promised to investors.
“The shareholders were duped by SCANA and stolen from millions and millions of dollars,” said federal prosecutor Peter McCoy Jr. in a statement.
Through the agreement, SCANA and SCE & G did not admit or deny the allegations. The litigation continues against former SCANA CEO Kevin Marsh and former executive vice president Stephen Byrne.
FIX: An earlier title for this article distorted the scope of the PSC order, which is a rejection of IRP Dominion 2020.