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Virginia Approves First Aggregation Of Non-Residential Load To Take Competitive Retail Supply

March 7, 2018

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Copyright 2010-17 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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The Virginia State Corporation Commission recently approved an application from Reynolds Group Holdings Inc. to aggregate certain of its loads so that it may qualify to take competitive retail electric supply.

The application from Reynolds Group Holdings marked the first such application for aggregation in Virginia.

Under Code § 56-577 A 3, retail access to competitive electricity supply is available to certain large customers with demand exceeding five megawatts. Pursuant to Code § 56-577 A 4, for the purpose of meeting this demand limitation, two or more individual nonresidential retail customers of electric energy, whose individual demand during the most recent calendar year did not exceed five megawatts, may petition the Commission for permission to aggregate or combine their demands.

Reynolds is a holding company whose subsidiaries are engaged in manufacturing, selling and distributing food packaging products, disposable cups and tableware, trash bags and related goods.

Reynolds Group Holdings Inc. in its petition sought to aggregate the demands of Reynolds' wholly owned subsidiaries located within the service territory of Virginia Electric and Power Company (Dominion Energy Virginia), including Reynolds Presto Products Inc. d/b/a Presto Products Co.; Reynolds Consumer Products, LLC d/b/a Reynolds Metals Co.; and Pactiv LLC d/b/a Reynolds Metals Co.

The sites for which Reynolds sought aggregation include locations in Richmond, Grottoes, and South Boston.

The aggregated peak demand of Reynolds' nonresidential retail customers for which aggregation was sought is 10.12 megawatts.

In addressing an aggregation petition, Code § 56-577 A 4 provides that the SCC may approve such a petition if it finds that, "Neither such customers' incumbent electric utility nor retail customers of such utility that do not choose to obtain electric energy from alternate suppliers will be adversely affected in a manner contrary to the public interest by granting such petition."

In its order on Reynolds' application, the SCC concluded that, "[n]either such customers' incumbent electric utility nor retail customers of such utility that do not choose to obtain electric energy from alternate suppliers will be adversely affected in a manner contrary to the public interest by granting such petition."

The SCC noted that the aggregated peak demand of the Reynolds nonresidential retail customers is 10.12 megawatts, which represents approximately 0.06% of Dominion's system peak. Furthermore, the SCC noted that Dominion's system peak, which is expected to exceed 17,000 megawatts in 2017, is expected to grow by significantly more than 0.06% each year (i.e., an annual average of 1.3%) over the next 15 years.

The SCC noted that SCC Staff did not contest the conclusion that the impact of granting Reynolds' petition would be de minimis.

Furthermore, while statute requires the SCC to consider the impact of granting an aggregation petition in light of, "other previously approved petitions of like type with respect to such incumbent electric utility," there have not been other previously approved petitions for aggregation which would impact the SCC's decisions regarding Reynolds' petition

Accordingly, Reynolds' petition to aggregate its nonresidential loads to take competitive retail supply was granted

The SCC will require periodic monitoring and reporting from Reynolds concerning its demand

Case No. PUR-2017-00109

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