Alternative Electric Suppliers

In Virginia, the State Corporation Commission ruled that competitive service providers (CSPs) are lawfully able to offer electricity supply to retail consumers, but only under specific, quite limited circumstances. First, the commission said, CSPs may sell generation service to large customers, defined as those exceeding five megawatts of usage in the prior billing year. Second, the commission held, CSPs may provide electric supply to any consumer, regardless of demand level, if the supply so vended is from 100% renewable resources and if the customer's incumbent electric utility does not itself offer a generation product that is based on wholly renewable sources. 

Direct Energy Services, a CSP registered to do business in Virginia, had asked for guidance from the commission as to exactly what the CSP can and cannot do in the state. According to the CSP, certain clauses in the law governing competitive sales of electricity appeared to be contradictory. The commission agreed that some clarification was needed. 

After carefully examining the statutory language and the legislative debate surrounding passage of the Virginia Electric Utility Regulation Act in 2007, the commission determined that CSPs may sell electricity, from whatever means of generation, to those large-volume customers meeting the threshold level of consumption listed in the law. But, the commission said, the law is much more restrictive on CSP sales to smaller customers, with such allowable only with respect to products that are 100% renewable and which are not similarly available from the customer's utility. 

The commission advised Direct Energy that should it enroll residential or other small-volume customers for its renewable power supply service prior to a utility deciding to also offer a renewable energy product, the CSP could retain those customers already signed up with it should the utility subsequently enter the renewable products market. However, the commission warned, after the utility enters the field of renewable energy sales, the CSP would no longer be able to market its services to new small-volume customers or accept subscriptions from such customers. 

The commission noted that, at the moment, neither of the state's two largest electric utilities (Dominion Virginia Power and Appalachian Power Company) have renewable energy supply tariffs on their books. (Case No. PUE- 2016-00094)