Top Tier Battery Sales Reference — Virginia (Dominion VA + APCo VA)

Two-utility market. Top Tier's Virginia launch covers the two investor-owned utilities serving residential solar customers:

• Dominion Energy Virginia (~2.8M customers statewide — Richmond / Hampton Roads / Northern VA / Tidewater)
• Appalachian Power Virginia (APCo VA) (~530K customers in southwestern VA — Roanoke / Lynchburg / Blacksburg corridor)

Both utilities preserved 1:1 retail net metering in recent 2025-2026 regulatory decisions:

• Dominion VA NEM 2.0: SCC final order April 30, 2026 — 1:1 retail-rate offset preserved for behind-the-meter consumption. Year-end excess (annual production beyond annual usage) cashes out at $0.05829/kWh (above Dominion's proposed rate; SCC added a $0.01 RPS-compliance credit). Dominion-proposed application fee REJECTED.
• APCo VA: SCC order September 2025 — 1:1 retail-rate net metering preserved for new customers up to annual usage. Above-annual-usage credit at 5.66¢/kWh. April true-up at avoided cost (~$0.04-0.05/kWh). Residential systems ≤ 20 kW.

Both utilities are in PJM (Dominion = Dom Zone, APCo = APS Zone). Out of scope at launch: Old Dominion Electric Cooperative member co-ops, municipal utilities, BARC Electric, NoVEC, etc. — co-op rate mechanics differ and warrant separate scoping.

Cohort: BOTH utilities = one_to_one_nm. Battery has no today-bill impact under preserved 1:1 NM (annual exports zero out annual imports). The pitch is future-proofing + Community Energy Act VPP positioning + system takeover + resilience — NOT direct monthly bill savings.

The rep's first job: confirm utility AND service territory. APCo serves both VA (1:1 preserved) and WV (post-sunset structure with completely different mechanics). Don't cross-contaminate.

The Opening: Lead With Takeover, Not Math

The customer booked the appointment because they're frustrated about their utility bill AND their installer is unreachable. Don't open with savings math. Don't open with rate-case statistics. Don't open with the technical pitch. Open with:

1. The free system inspection. "I'm here to inspect your existing solar system at no cost. If it's running well, we'll confirm that. If anything's wrong, we'll surface it. Either way, you walk away with a clearer picture of what you own."
2. System takeover. "When your inverter fails — and inverters do fail, usually between year 8 and year 20 — you need someone to handle the warranty claim and the replacement. Top Tier becomes your single point of contact for the next 10 years on the entire system, not just on anything new we install."
3. Then bridge to the bill. "You're still seeing a [Dominion / APCo] bill after going solar — even with 1:1 net metering. Let me walk you through why, and what changes when we add storage."

The battery is the upsell that makes the deal economic for Top Tier; takeover/inspection is the lead the customer agreed to. Reps get paid on battery sales. Don't lose the open by leading with the close.

Virginia-specific note on the LEAD: VA's regulatory environment is genuinely favorable RIGHT NOW (1:1 NM preserved at both IOUs). Reps should NOT lead with "the rules are changing" urgency — that's not true today and would undermine credibility. Lead with takeover + inspection + the documented Dominion rate trajectory + PJM-zone resilience. The Community Energy Act VPP is forward upside, not current value.

Standing Rules (Do NOT Violate)

• ❌ NEVER coach reps to disqualify based on home tenure. If a customer plans to sell in 3 years, the right move is the resale story (system raises home value; closing equity pays off loan; warranties carry over per their actual transfer rules) — not "walk away."
• ❌ NEVER claim "all warranties transfer." Workmanship transfers WITH WRITTEN CONSENT. Manufacturer warranties transfer per their own terms. The 5-year Align Solar Protection service contract is NON-TRANSFERABLE.
• ❌ NEVER fabricate inspection findings. The inspection is mostly about education + diagnosing the bill problem + future-failure prevention.
• ❌ NEVER quote the Community Energy Act VPP as guaranteed payment. It's mandated to launch (SCC tariff petition due Nov 15, 2026) but is NOT yet enrolling residential customers and has NO published payment amounts. Pitch it as positioning, not as expected income.
• ❌ NEVER cross-contaminate APCo VA and APCo WV. APCo serves both states under different regulatory regimes. VA has preserved 1:1 NM; WV is a post-sunset market. Confirm service address county before quoting any APCo rate dynamics.
• ❌ NEVER pitch the Section 25D federal battery-with-solar 2026 residual credit without tax-counsel review. Some installer sources claim residual eligibility; primary IRS guidance does not affirm. Federal solar ITC expired 12/31/2025 — pitch THAT as fact, not a workaround.

Why You Still Have a Bill — Cohort Bridge (one_to_one_nm)

Use AFTER you've opened with takeover/inspection. Virginia is unique among Top Tier's current 9 markets because both IOUs preserved 1:1 retail net metering — most other markets are on some flavor of EDG/net billing where the bill-spread story carries the pitch. In VA, the bill-spread story DOESN'T apply, and reps need to know that.

Verbatim from the proposal copy (lib/why-bill-own-rent.ts, one_to_one_nm template) — reps see the exact same language the customer sees on the proposal:

Your bill should be small. Here's what it covers.

Under 1:1 net metering, [Dominion VA / APCo VA] credits your exports at the same rate they charge for imports — so your annual kWh charges should mostly zero out. The bill you still see covers fixed monthly charges (basic service / customer charge, riders, taxes), any consumption above what your solar produces, and time-of-day or seasonal imbalances. A battery doesn't change your daily bill math much under 1:1 NM today — but it's how you lock in your position when net metering rules change. Every state is moving in that direction, and the customers who already have batteries installed are insulated when the change hits.

Virginia specifics for the rep

The canonical copy above applies cleanly to both VA IOUs. Layer in the utility-specific nuances:

Dominion Energy Virginia (NEM 2.0):

• 1:1 retail-rate offset for behind-the-meter consumption — exports during the 12-month netting period offset imports at the customer's retail rate
• Year-end excess cash-out: $0.05829/kWh — applies only when annual production > annual usage (rare for systems sized at 100% offset). Includes the SCC-added $0.01/kWh RPS-compliance credit above Dominion's filed rate
• Application fee proposal REJECTED — no extra friction to interconnect
• Customers who interconnected before the SCC's NEM 2.0 ruling are grandfathered into legacy treatment
• Source: SCC final order April 30, 2026

Appalachian Power Virginia:

• 1:1 retail-rate offset for behind-the-meter consumption up to annual usage
• Above-annual-usage credit: 5.66¢/kWh — rare for properly-sized systems
• April true-up: avoided cost (~$0.04-0.05/kWh) for unused rollover credits
• Residential cap: 20 kW
• Monthly customer charge: ~$7.96
• Source: SCC order September 2025

Why the customer still sees a bill (the actual answer)

For both VA IOUs, the customer typically sees a bill because:

1. Fixed monthly charges (customer charge, riders, taxes) aren't offset by net metering — net metering only zeroes out the energy charge
2. Consumption above annual production — if the customer uses more kWh than the system produces in a year, the gap is billed at retail
3. TOU mismatch within a billing period — Dominion has some optional TOU programs where production timing matters; APCo less so
4. Seasonal imbalances — December production is low, December usage is high; net metering smooths this over the 12-month period but the customer still sees monthly variation

A battery doesn't reduce ANY of those for VA customers today. It DOES:

• Lock in current 1:1 economics before any future regulatory change (similar to how CT, MA, and CA customers wish they'd installed batteries before NEM was replaced with sub-retail tariffs)
• Position for Community Energy Act VPP enrollment when Dominion's pilot opens for residential customers (capacity caps mean late arrivals wait)
• Eliminate outage exposure during severe storms (2012 Derecho 454k Dominion NoVA outages; March 2026 ~100k Central VA; April 2026 Hampton Roads)

How to use it in conversation

After the takeover/inspection lead has landed, transition with: "You're on [Dominion VA / APCo VA] — and the good news is your net metering is genuinely 1:1 retail today. The SCC just preserved that for you. The battery isn't going to lower your monthly bill in any meaningful way today, because the bill math already works in your favor. What the battery does is three things: it locks in your favorable position before the next regulatory cycle, it positions you for the [Dominion-only: Community Energy Act] VPP pilot that's coming late 2026, and it keeps your home running when the next storm hits."

What NOT to say:

• ❌ "Your bill will go to zero with a battery." (Not true — fixed charges and seasonal imbalances remain regardless.)
• ❌ "Dominion is about to take away net metering." (Not true — they just preserved it April 2026.)
• ❌ "The battery saves you $X/mo on bill." (For a properly-sized VA system on 1:1 NM, the today-bill impact is minimal.)
• ❌ "You'll earn money from the VPP." (Not yet — Community Energy Act pilot not yet enrolling; no published payment amounts.)

Hidden Costs Avoided: The $11K System Takeover Bundle

Pillar 3 of the pitch (after Bridge and Takeover/Inspection lead). When Top Tier takes over the system, you bundle in services the customer would otherwise pay out of pocket over the 25-year horizon. These are estimates, not firm line-item quotes — but they total over $11K of value the customer doesn't see on the proposal's headline savings number. Applies to both VA IOUs equally.

Verbatim from the proposal copy (components/multistate/sections/HiddenCostsAvoided.tsx):

How to use it in conversation

The pitch: "On top of the bill math we walked through — which is small in VA because your 1:1 net metering is good — you're picking up over $11K of bundled services that aren't sold separately. We don't quote them as line items because they're built into the takeover. If your inverter fails in year 12, the manufacturer warranty handling alone is worth a few hundred dollars. The replacement coordination saves you another $3-5K. The 5-year Align contract on your existing system is $1,500 you'd otherwise pay if you went looking for it. It adds up."

Especially powerful for VA because of recent severe-weather patterns — 2012 Derecho (454k Dominion NoVA outages), March 2026 Central VA storms (~100k peak), April 2026 Hampton Roads, mountain-weather exposure in APCo territory. Service-call wait times spike after major weather events. Having a service contract pre-paid into the takeover means the customer isn't on a 90-day waitlist when they need post-storm diagnostics.

What NOT to say

• ❌ Don't promise the line items as standalone products. Top Tier does NOT sell Align Solar Protection or service call coverage as standalone purchases. The values above are estimated 25-yr cost avoidance, not a price sheet a customer could shop.
• ❌ Don't pitch the headline as a guarantee. "Over $11K" is the estimated typical bundle value. Headline rounds DOWN from $11,800 specifically to read as an estimate, not a firm quote.
• ❌ Don't confuse Align (non-transferable) with the manufacturer warranty (transferable per its own terms) in the resale story.
• ❌ Don't pitch the bundle as offsetting "absent bill savings." The bundle is real value the customer would pay for separately; it's not a workaround for the small VA bill-savings number.

What You Own vs What You Rent — Qualitative Reframe (NOT Dollar Comparison)

Pillar 4 of the pitch. VA's one_to_one_nm cohort routes to the QUALITATIVE template — the customer's "rent" number (utility bill compounded over 25 years) is genuinely small today because 1:1 NM zeroes out their kWh charges. The dollar comparison framing would actively undermine the pitch in VA. Use the qualitative reframe instead.

Verbatim from the proposal copy (components/multistate/sections/OwnVsRent.tsx, QUALITATIVE branch):

Your bill is small today — your solar's doing what it should.

That depends on net metering rules continuing as-is. The 25-year horizon for you isn't about a dollar gap on the chart — it's about what your monthly loan payment actually buys you that your current bill doesn't.

What ~$41K over 15 years (the loan total) buys the VA 1:1-NM customer:

• Ownership of generation + storage. System is yours. Loan paid off at year 15; years 16-25 you own outright with no payment.
• Incremental home value: $3K-$10K. Lawrence Berkeley Lab storage-premium research suggests battery adds this on top of solar's premium. Your customer's solar likely added ~$15K-$20K at original install — battery builds on that, NOT duplicates it.
• PJM-zone outage resilience. Your solar shuts off during grid outages today (anti-islanding). A battery keeps critical loads running. Recent severe-weather pattern: 2012 Derecho, March 2026 Central VA, April 2026 Hampton Roads, ongoing mountain-weather exposure in APCo territory.
• Locked-in position when net metering rules change. Every state has either changed or proposed changes to 1:1 NM. VA just preserved it (April 2026 for Dominion, Sept 2025 for APCo) — but the regulatory environment shifts every few years. Customers with batteries installed are insulated when the change hits.
• Dominion-only: Community Energy Act VPP positioning. Dominion must petition the SCC by Nov 15, 2026 to enroll residential customers in the mandated VPP pilot. ≥15 MW residential battery component. Customers with batteries installed are first in line when enrollment opens.
• 10-year Top Tier workmanship warranty + service path. When your original installer is unreachable, Top Tier is your single point of contact for the next 10+ years.

How to use it in conversation

The pitch: "Your VA bill is small today because your net metering is doing what it should. We're not going to walk through a 25-year cumulative-utility-cost chart because in VA that chart doesn't tell the right story — your kWh charges already zero out. What ~$41K over 15 years buys you is ownership of the asset, $3-10K of home value Berkeley Lab attributes to battery, outage resilience for the next big storm, a locked-in position before the next regulatory change, [Dominion-only: VPP positioning when the Community Energy Act pilot opens late 2026], and a single point of contact for service for the next 10+ years."

What NOT to say

• ❌ Don't quote a "$80K rent" number — VA customers' rent compounding is genuinely small under 1:1 NM. The dollar reframe doesn't work here.
• ❌ Don't oversell the home-value range. $3K-$10K is the incremental battery premium per Berkeley Lab — NOT the total solar + battery premium.
• ❌ Don't pitch the VPP as guaranteed income. Community Energy Act VPP is not yet enrolling; no published payment amounts. Pitch positioning, not dollars.
• ❌ Don't apply this to APCo VA customers thinking about WV — different state, different cohort.

Rate Increases: VA Trajectory

Virginia's two IOUs have documented rate trajectories driven by different forces:

Dominion Energy Virginia

• 2026 rate case approved +$11.24/mo avg residential
• 2027 additional adjustment: +$2.36/mo
• Structural driver: data-center cost allocation — Northern VA hosts the largest data-center cluster on Earth. Cost-allocation debate ongoing in VA General Assembly; outcome uncertain
• PJM Dom Zone capacity costs — 833% spike in 2025/26 auction flowing through pass-through riders

Appalachian Power Virginia

• 2025 rate REDUCTION approved by SCC (uncommon — most utilities trend up)
• March 2026: +$1.58/mo adjustment on 1,000 kWh customer
• PJM APS Zone capacity costs + AEP capital recovery for storm-hardening

Three Scenarios (Proposal Columns)

Both utilities use 3%/5%/7% scenarios per the same methodology:

Reps: quote moderate (5%) as the working assumption. Optimistic / aggressive bracket the documented trajectory. Don't anchor on aggressive (it's the upper bound for "what could happen if VA General Assembly reform fails AND PJM patterns deteriorate"). Don't anchor on optimistic (PSC restraint is real but capital drivers don't pause).

Federal & State Tax Credits

What's Gone

• Federal ITC expired December 31, 2025 per the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. New 2026 cash or financed residential battery installations do not qualify. Approximately $5,000-7,000 of lost incentive value on a typical $18,500 install.

What Remains for Virginia

• No Virginia state solar income tax credit. (Unlike South Carolina's Form TC-38 25% credit — VA does NOT have an equivalent.)
• Virginia property tax exemption for residential solar ≤ 25 kW (effective Jan 1, 2023): residential and agricultural solar installations are classified as a separate class of taxable property and are wholly exempt from state and local taxation. Battery storage paired with solar within the system size cap also qualifies. Saves the customer ~$200-600/yr in property-tax assessment over the system lifetime; not modeled into the proposal savings figures.
• No VA statewide battery rebate. (Unlike Maryland's RCES or California's SGIP.)
• VA SREC market exists (RPS via VCEA) but residential SREC value is volatile/modest. Don't lead with SRECs in the pitch.

Section 25D residual battery-with-solar 2026 eligibility

Some installer sources reference residual Section 25D battery-with-solar eligibility for 2026 installations — primary IRS guidance does NOT clearly affirm this. DO NOT pitch this to customers without tax-counsel review. The federal ITC expiration is the simple, accurate framing.

How to Handle the Conversation

"You may have heard about the 30% federal tax credit. That expired at the end of 2025 for direct purchases. Virginia doesn't have a state solar income tax credit either — South Carolina has one, several states do, but Virginia doesn't. The good news: Virginia DOES have a property-tax exemption for residential solar systems up to 25 kW since 2023 — your installation doesn't increase your property's assessed value, so you're not paying additional property tax on the system. That's value you keep year over year. For cash or financed purchases like ours, there's no income-tax credit on this install. The case rests on structural value — 1:1 NM preservation, system takeover, resilience, and the Community Energy Act VPP positioning if you're a Dominion customer."

VPP / Future Income — Community Energy Act (Dominion-Only)

Virginia is unique in this list. While most Top Tier markets have no VPP, Virginia has a mandated future VPP — the Community Energy Act, signed May 2025.

What's mandated

• Dominion must propose a 450 MW VPP pilot (submitted to SCC December 1, 2025)
• SCC tariff petition for residential/commercial/industrial enrollment is due November 15, 2026
• At least 15 MW of residential battery additions included in the mandate
• Pilot phase concludes July 1, 2028
• Also includes a school-bus battery program by December 31, 2027

What this means for the pitch

• NOT yet enrolling residential customers — there's no current payment.
• Forward upside, not current value — customers with batteries installed are first in line when enrollment opens.
• Capacity caps will apply — late arrivals wait. Same dynamic Tesla VPP in TX, ConnectedSolutions in MA, PowerPair in NC all show.
• APCo VA is NOT part of this — the mandate is Dominion-specific.

How to use it in conversation (Dominion customers only)

"Virginia passed something interesting in May 2025 called the Community Energy Act. It mandates that Dominion propose a battery-powered virtual power plant — they call it a VPP — with at least 15 megawatts of residential battery participation. They submitted the proposal to the SCC in December 2025; the tariff for residential enrollment is due in November 2026. So sometime in late 2026 or 2027, Dominion will start enrolling residential customers in a program that pays you for letting them dispatch your battery during peak demand events. The catch: programs like this cap capacity, and customers who already have batteries installed are first in line when enrollment opens. So having the battery now isn't just about today's economics — it's about being positioned for that program when it launches. We can't tell you what they'll pay because the tariff isn't published yet. We CAN tell you the program is mandated by law, so it's coming."

What NOT to say

• ❌ Don't quote a specific $/yr payment — no tariff published yet.
• ❌ Don't promise enrollment — capacity caps mean even early-installed customers might miss if the program ends up smaller than expected.
• ❌ Don't apply to APCo VA customers — not part of the mandate.
• ❌ Don't conflate with Dominion's existing energy-efficiency / EV-charger programs — those exist today and are unrelated to the Community Energy Act VPP.

The Inverter Hidden Risk

Most homeowners don't realize how exposed they are without a service relationship.

• Typical inverter failure window: 8-15 years for SolarEdge string inverters; 10-20 years for Enphase microinverters
• Replacement cost out of pocket: $3,000-$5,000+ if out of warranty
• The catch most don't learn until they need it: when the inverter fails and the original installer is gone, finding someone willing to handle the warranty claim and replacement is hard. Most installers refuse work on someone else's system.

With Top Tier, you're not on your own with it. Whenever a manufacturer warranty claim is needed — on the new battery or the existing panels and inverter — Top Tier coordinates it at no cost. And on top of equipment's existing manufacturer warranties, every installation includes a 5-year Align Solar Protection service contract at no extra cost, covering existing solar equipment for mechanical breakdown, parts and labor, with $0 deductible. Coverage is confirmed through a system inspection.

Loan Economics

Service Finance loan structure for the backup-capable configuration (VA default):

Note: Service Finance loans cannot be re-amortized. Extra payments shorten the loan term but do not lower the monthly payment.

The self-consumption configuration runs slightly lower. VA defaults to backup-capable given PJM-zone outage exposure + severe-weather pattern.

Objection Handling

"What if I sell the house before the loan is paid off?"

"Solar plus battery raises your home's value at sale. Your closing equity pays off whatever's left on the loan, so the new owner inherits a fully-owned system with no payment to take over. Most warranties carry over: Top Tier's 10-year workmanship and roof penetration warranty transfers to the new owner with written consent (we coordinate this at closing), and the manufacturer warranties on your inverter and battery transfer per the manufacturers' own terms. The 5-year Align Solar Protection service contract is non-transferable — the seller benefits from the inspection and 5-year coverage. The next owner gets a turnkey, manufacturer-warrantied home with severe-weather backup built in; you get a higher sale price."

"My VA bill is small. Why do I need a battery?"

"You're right — your bill IS small. That's because Virginia just preserved 1:1 net metering for you. The battery isn't going to reduce your monthly bill in any meaningful way today. What it does is three things: First, it locks you in. Every other state with high solar penetration has either changed or proposed changes to 1:1 NM in the past few years. VA just preserved it but the regulatory cycle continues. Battery installed before the next change keeps your economics intact. [Dominion-only: Second, Virginia passed the Community Energy Act that mandates a Dominion VPP pilot opening for residential enrollment by late 2026. Customers with batteries installed are first in line.] Third, when the next big storm hits — and PJM has had four major outage events in the last three years — your home keeps running."

"What about the 30% federal tax credit?"

"It expired December 31, 2025 for direct purchases. Some lease and PPA models still qualify at the leasing-company level. For cash or financed purchases like ours, there's no federal credit on a 2026 install. Virginia doesn't have a state income tax credit either. The good news: Virginia DOES have a property-tax exemption for residential solar ≤ 25 kW since 2023 — your install doesn't add to your property's assessed value. That's worth $200-600/yr in avoided property tax over the system lifetime."

"I'm on APCo. My friend in WV is on APCo. Do we have the same situation?"

"No, and this is important. APCo serves both VA and WV under different regulatory regimes. In VA, the SCC just preserved your 1:1 net metering in September 2025 — that's the favorable position you're in. In WV, the same company hit a sunset deadline in early 2026 — new customers in WV territory are now on reduced export credits (about 12.4¢/kWh vs ~17¢ retail). VA hasn't moved that direction, but the parent company has the playbook. That's part of what 'locking in your position' means — if VA ever follows the WV path, your battery moves the value behind your meter where the rule change can't touch it."

"What if I'm a Dominion customer and the Community Energy Act VPP pays less than other states?"

"Honest answer: we don't know yet — the tariff isn't published. What we know is the mandate requires at least 15 MW of residential battery participation, which means real payments to make participation economic. We also know that adjacent VPP markets are paying customers $200 to $3,000/yr depending on program structure. Virginia's program will be in that range. Even at the low end, that's incremental income on top of the bill math, the property-tax exemption, the resilience value, and the takeover bundle. And again, capacity is capped — late arrivals wait."

What To Say · What NOT To Say

Key Disclosures for Virginia Customers

1. Both VA IOUs preserved 1:1 retail net metering in recent SCC decisions. Battery has no today-bill impact under preserved 1:1 NM — the pitch is future-proofing + Community Energy Act VPP positioning (Dominion only) + resilience + takeover.
2. Dominion year-end excess cash-out: $0.05829/kWh (includes SCC-added $0.01 RPS credit). Applies only when annual production > annual usage — rare for systems sized at 100% offset.
3. APCo VA above-annual-usage credit: 5.66¢/kWh. Same condition — rare for properly-sized systems. April true-up at avoided cost ~$0.04-0.05/kWh.
4. APCo also serves WV with post-sunset rules. Confirm customer's service-address state before quoting any APCo rate dynamics.
5. Community Energy Act VPP pilot — Dominion-only, NOT yet enrolling. SCC tariff petition due Nov 15, 2026. Pitch positioning, not income.
6. Federal ITC expired 12/31/2025. No VA state income tax credit. VA property-tax exemption for residential solar ≤ 25 kW (since Jan 1, 2023) does apply.
7. No VA state battery rebate. No statewide battery program.
8. Section 25D battery-with-solar residual 2026 eligibility unverified. Don't pitch without tax-counsel review.
9. PJM Dom Zone + APS Zone capacity-cost trajectory is the structural rate driver. 833% spike in 2025/26 auction. Rate trajectory continues regardless of NM preservation.
10. VCEA renewable-compliance capital recovery flows through residential rates over multi-year windows. 100%-clean-by-2050 mandate.
11. Battery duration depends on loads. 10 kWh = 18-30 hr critical loads; not whole-home backup for sustained outages.
12. Service Finance loans cannot be re-amortized. Extra payments shorten term, not monthly payment.
13. 10-year workmanship warranty contingent on inspection acceptance. If existing system has issues we can't take over, written notice within 7 days.
14. Inverter failure timing is statistical. $3-5K replacement-cost estimate based on typical SolarEdge / Enphase failure windows.

Recent VA Outage Events (Resilience Pillar Anchors)

Reps cite these to ground the resilience case in events the customer probably remembers:

1. June 29-30, 2012 — Mid-Atlantic Derecho. Iconic. ~454,000 Dominion Northern VA outages (>50% of NoVA service area). Multi-day restoration. Still the regional reference point for grid resilience.
2. 2024 Eastern VA / NE NC severe storms. ~96,000 peak outages; ~20,000 still out hours into restoration.
3. March 2026 — Central VA storms. ~100,000 peak outages; ~77,000 still without power at midnight. Recent reminder of PJM Dom Zone severe-weather exposure.
4. April 2026 — Hampton Roads storm. 7,000+ outages in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, VA Beach, Southampton. Smaller event but coastal-storm illustrative.

Counter-narrative for sophisticated customers: Dominion has buried 2,500+ miles of the most outage-prone lines since 2012. Average outage time on buried-line customers dropped from 11 hours to 2 minutes. That's real progress — but doesn't help during major storm events that overwhelm even hardened distribution.

Walk-Away Profiles

When the deal doesn't fit, walk away cleanly. None of these are tenure-based.

• Customer has no existing solar. Top Tier specializes in battery added to existing solar. New solar + battery is a different conversation we don't quote today.
• Customer's existing solar is a lease or PPA. The third-party lease/PPA structure complicates the takeover. Document, route to Todd for case-by-case decision.
• Customer is on a VA cooperative (Northern Virginia Electric Coop, BARC, Mecklenburg, etc.) or municipal utility (Danville, Manassas, Bristol VA, etc.). Out of scope at launch. Document and pass.
• Customer is an APCo customer in WV territory (Mercer, McDowell, Wyoming, Logan counties etc.). Don't quote VA dynamics — refer to the WV-coming workflow when that launches.
• Customer demands a specific Community Energy Act VPP payment amount we can't quote. Honest answer: tariff not published yet. We can pitch positioning but not income. If customer wants to wait until the tariff publishes, that's fine — we'll follow up.

TODO / Follow-Up

• Verify Dominion VA Schedule 1 residential energy charge and customer charge from the published tariff PDF. The Phase A research couldn't extract these from WebFetch-blocked PDFs. Use the pypdf-against-cached-PDF approach (the trick that unblocked KY PSC research) or pull from Dominion's customer-facing rate page. Refine the defaultMonthlyBill and rate-trajectory scenarios in lib/markets/va.ts accordingly.
• Verify APCo VA Schedule R residential energy charge from the tariff sheet at appalachianpower.com. The ~$7.96/mo customer charge is verified MEDIUM confidence per Phase A research; the per-kWh energy charge needs same-level confirmation.
• Watch for Community Energy Act VPP SCC tariff petition (due Nov 15, 2026). When published, update the rep guide with specific payment amounts + enrollment process + flip the VPP framing from "coming late 2026" to actual program details.
• Monitor VA General Assembly data-center cost allocation reform debate. Outcome materially affects the rate-trajectory scenarios. If reform passes, drop the aggressive 7% scenario. If reform stalls, the moderate 5% may need to shift up.
• Optional cooperative expansion: ODEC member co-ops (~16 co-ops serving rural VA) are out of scope at launch. If rep demand surfaces, add as additional MarketUtility entries under VA_MARKET; the Market wrapper stays unchanged.