Challenge

In the spring of 2026, the Virginia General Assembly passed S223, creating the Virginia DER Task Force. This Task Force was required to provide recommendations on growing the adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs) in the state and integrating those DERs into state and regional energy markets through virtual power plants (VPPs). The Task Force’s main challenge is in organizing and prioritizing the vast array of policy issues and various stakeholder inputs to provide a clear set of next steps to policymakers and regulators, in under 6 months.

Solution

EPDI is applying the VPP Policy Framework to help the Task Force organize the VPP policy space and develop an initial Regulatory Roadmap for Virginia. The Roadmap identifies the state’s long-term goals for VPPs, the types of VPPs the state wants to implement, and the next policy steps on the journey towards achieving those goals.

Results to date:

• Helped Task Force establish a long-term vision for DERs and VPPs in Virginia
• Facilitated a process to prioritize the VPP Types in a rough implementation order based on benefits to Virginia ratepayers
• Conducted a “You are Here” analysis to provide a “state of the State” starting point for high priority VPP policy topics