Dominion Virgina Power has appealed a recent Virginia State Corporation Commission (Commission/SCC) decision in the renewable energy case to the Virginia Supreme Court. As we discussed in detail here, renewable generation suppliers recently won a major victory at the SCC. On April 26, 2017, Direct Energy Services, LLC (“Direct”) received a favorable ruling from the Commission that reaffirms the rights of competitive suppliers to sell renewable energy to retail customers in the Commonwealth. On May 25, 2017, however, Dominion Energy Virginia (“Dominion”) gave notice that it would appeal the decision to the Virginia Supreme Court.

The case was initiated when Direct filed a petition for declaratory judgment asking the Commission to clarify the meaning of several portions of Virginia’s retail choice statute, Virginia Code § 56-577. One part of the statute, Va. Code § 56-577 A 3, provides that large customers purchasing energy from competitive suppliers must provide “five years’ advance written notice” if they wish to go back to receiving service from their incumbent utility. But another part of the statute, Va. Code § 56-577 A 5, provides that all retail customers, regardless of their size, may purchase 100% renewable energy from competitive suppliers if their incumbent utility does not offer a 100% renewable energy tariff. Direct noted that this latter statutory provision does not include a five-year notice requirement.

The Commission entered an order on March 17, 2017, agreeing with Direct that customers who purchase 100% renewable energy pursuant to Va. Code § 56-577 A 5 are not required to comply with the five-year minimum notice requirement contained in Section A 3. On April 26, following a motion for reconsideration filed by Dominion, the Commission reaffirmed its decision and legal analysis.

On May 25, 2017, Dominion gave notice that it would appeal the matter to the Virginia Supreme Court. Under Virginia law, appeals of Commission orders are “of right,” and all appeals of SCC decisions must be heard by the Court. Virginia Supreme Court rules require Dominion to file its assignments of error within four months of the Commission’s final order.

Please contact one of our renewable energy lawyers or regulatory attorneys should you have questions about this case. The Commission case number for this matter is PUE-2016-00094.