Virginia solar in 2026

Virginia utility pricing changes how a roof should be sized

Virginia's rate and modeled production make solar viable without exotic assumptions. The deciding variable is the annual settlement. A close load match can use the twelve-month account; chronic overproduction ends up with the utility at a sharply weaker value.

Dominion's new rules keep the annual ledger intact

In May 2026, the SCC approved Dominion Energy's NEM 2.0. The decision kept full-retail annual netting, set a $1 monthly administrative charge, and turned down Dominion's requested application fees. The Virginia Clean Economy Act program limit is 6 percent of peak load. For a year of tighter export policies elsewhere, that continuity matters.

The true-up deserves more attention than the headline rule. Excess at year end is settled at avoided cost plus 1 cent for each kWh rather than the household retail price. The annual window is helpful flexibility, not permission to inflate the array. Insist on the projected surplus alongside total generation.

Policy source: NEM 2.0 decision coverage.

Virginia's stable rule still demands a precise design

Dominion's NEM 2.0 is unusually close to its predecessor: twelve-month netting stayed in place, the SCC rejected proposed application fees, and the recurring administrative fee is $1 each month. That is real predictability. It does not mean every Virginia utility follows the same path. A quote should identify Dominion, Appalachian Power, or the relevant cooperative before it uses a policy assumption.

The annual settlement is the line that keeps sizing honest. Monthly credits can be carried through the twelve-month period, but unused annual generation settles at avoided cost plus 1 cent per kWh. Ask for two production figures: the total forecast and the expected annual excess. The difference is not a technicality. It is the part of the system that will not avoid a normal retail purchase.

Tax treatment belongs in a separate column from utility savings. Va. Code § 58.1-3661 states that qualifying solar facilities under §15.2-2288.7(A) or (B), with nameplate capacity not more than 25 kW DC, are wholly exempt from state and local taxation. It also provides a local-option route for certified equipment. Get the scope matched to the exact project rather than assuming the label "residential" settles it.

A proposal that says "Virginia net metering" without naming the utility is unfinished. Dominion Energy Virginia is the utility covered by the NEM 2.0 decision discussed here, while Appalachian Power and rural cooperatives serve other parts of the state. The SCC's net-metering program page confirms the program, but the household still needs its own utility's interconnection terms. That is why a good proposal identifies the territory first, the annual production second, and the settlement assumption third. Reversing that order makes the savings forecast look cleaner than the actual decision.

Rule details: NEM 2.0 coverage. Tax statute: Va. Code § 58.1-3661.

What to pin down in a Virginia proposal

• Start with the serving utility: Dominion, Appalachian Power, or a cooperative. A Dominion order does not replace your own utility's interconnection terms.
• Make annual surplus visible. Twelve-month netting has value; the avoided-cost-plus-1-cent true-up does not have retail value.
• Near 25 kW DC, obtain written confirmation of the exemption's scope before relying on it.
• The $1 fee is minor. An oversized system is not. Keep design discipline in view.

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Four answers create a Virginia-oriented estimate using this page's EIA price and PVGIS production inputs. We are a solar installer and we also partner with other solar companies. Details in our disclosures.