A&N Electric Cooperative recently gained approval to make its Cooperative Sunshare program a permanent offering and expand it to small commercial members.
Through Cooperative Sunshare, residential and small commercial members can subscribe to “solar blocks” to cover a larger portion of their energy needs each month. Currently, a portion of all power supplied to Cooperative members comes from solar.
The additional cost to members of a 50-kWh solar block is now $5.28 per month, a modest increase over the current cost of wholesale power. The subscription cost decreased with the addition of small commercial to the program. Members who were already subscribed to Cooperative Sunshare should notice a 14-cent reduction in the price per 50-kWh block.
The program also offers members the opportunity to lock in the cost of their solar power supply for the future.
Cooperative Sunshare is ideal for members who would like to cover more of their energy use with solar power, but are unable to build solar panels on their property or do not want the upfront cost or the ongoing maintenance of a solar facility.
By subscribing to Cooperative Sunshare, participants can support the development of solar energy in Virginia, while locking in the price paid for the dedicated solar portion of their generation service during the three-year pilot period. Cooperative Sunshare was originally made available to Co-op members in 2018 when A&N Electric Cooperative established it as a pilot program.
The solar energy for Cooperative Sunshare is produced at two facilities in Virginia. One of the facilities, the 20-megawatt Cherrydale solar facility, is located in Northampton County, just outside of Eastville. The electricity is provided to Co-op members through a power purchase agreement with Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, of which A&N Electric Cooperative is a member.