State regulators approved a controversial Dominion Virginia Power plan on Wednesday that adds a charge for larger home users of solar energy.
Dominion plans to impose a monthly "standby" charge, starting in April, on residential customers with solar systems that generate between 10 and 20 kilowatts. Today, that fee would apply to only one customer, according to Dominion.
Most homeowners' solar systems produce about 3 or 4 kilowatts, so they wouldn't see the standby charge. But they - and companies that sell and install solar equipment - fear that Dominion will seek to expand the fee to all solar users in the future and stymie the budding development of residential renewable energy.
"When I go out to somebody's house, it is already tough enough" to sell the cost benefits of solar without the standby charge, said Richard Good, president of Solar Services Inc., an installation company based in Virginia Beach. "That's a pretty big disincentive."
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