City of Richmond Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
The City of Richmond has the opportunity to enter into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Secure Solar Futures that will produce over 5 megawatts of clean energy across 39 City-owned sites in Richmond.
What Is a Solar PPA?
How Did This Project Start?
A Power Purchase Agreement is a long-term lease to a private company that builds, owns, and maintains the solar panels on City rooftops. The City doesn’t pay anything to install them. Instead, the City agrees to buy the electricity those panels generate at a price that is locked in and lower than Dominion Energy charges us. After 25 years, the City can choose to buy the equipment outright, have it removed, or extend the agreement and continue benefiting from it.
Solar PPAs have been used successfully in Virginia for over two decades by numerous cities, counties, and public school systems. Here in the Richmond region, Richmond Public Schools (RPS), Henrico County, and Chesterfield County have all entered into solar PPAs. In fact, Richmond Public School worked with the same vendor, Secure Solar Futures, on their solar installs and is expected to avoid millions of dollars in energy costs over the course of the PPA.
The project originated from the Municipal Investment Fund (MIF), a grant program through the Coalition for Green Capital that the City and the Community Climate Collaborative (C3) were awarded in 2025. The MIF funded a Public-Private Partnership Plan, completed in 2026, that studied how Richmond could grow solar and battery power across municipal buildings. That plan’s central recommendation, and the reason this project exists on the timeline it does, was to use a cooperative procurement to move quickly in order to take advantage of the federal solar tax credits before they expire.
There are two factors that make timing key to this project:
As of July 2026, Dominion Energy rates for local governments are rising sharply.
A federal tax credit that makes solar much cheaper is set to expire.
Dominion Energy’s rate for local governments (negotiated through our contract with Dominion as a member of the Virginia Energy Purchasing Governmental Association - VEPGA) increased 23.5% on July 1, 2026 and will increase by another 20%+ on July 1, 2027. Locking in a lower, stable solar rate now without any escalators protects the City from a meaningful share of that increase for the next 25 years.
The Federal Solar Tax Credits can reduce total project costs by up to 50%. Missing this opportunity would have a significant cost savings impact and reduce the scope and size of the solar portfolio, since fewer sites could pencil out financially without the tax credit. Projects that receive the tax credits have until the end of 2030 to be constructed. If we pursue a solar power purchase agreement without the tax credits, the cost per kwh will increase 72% from a blended rate of $.128/kwh to $.22/kwh.
Why Now?
How Will This Benefit Richmond?
The solar PPA proposal will save taxpayers money just as energy costs are climbing, lowering City utility bills by at least $19.3 million over the next 25 years. The installation is at no cost to taxpayers.
This project puts solar panels on buildings across all nine Council districts, including fire stations, libraries, and community centers. Shifting our energy supply to cleaner, local sources moves Richmond closer to its climate goals, and introduces the potential for backup power during outages down the road.
Finally, this particular contract will create paid internships for local students.
Where Will the Solar Arrays Be Located?
An initial list of City-owned buildings was identified during the Municipal Investment Fund project. This list was narrowed down to 27 sites based on roof age/condition, building height, potential shading, roof obstructions, energy usage, future development plans, and economic viability. This selection process included meetings with departmental directors and dozens of City staff to secure approvals for each site.
During the presentation given to Council during the July 6th Organizational Development Committee meeting, these 27 sites were presented. However, after the July 1st Dominion rate increase (23.5%), smaller projects that were not previously economically viable became more feasible. They were added to the list, changing the total number of sites from 27 to 39.
Project Timeline
July - August 2026: Stakeholder Engagement
City Council Organizational Development Committee Meeting
Prepare contract documents
Complete legislative review
Ongoing stakeholder engagement and education
Outreach, feedback collection, and education
September 2026
September 14: Council Introduction
September 23: Government Operations Committee Meeting
September 28: Council Adoption
October 2026
Executed contract, project agreements, and 5-year leases
Project Team Planning Meeting to review project development stages
2027 to 2028
Installation of solar panels upon Notice to Proceed (NTP), depending on engineering and permitting timelines (3 to 9 months per site to receive NTP)
2028 to 2052
Panels generating electricity
Leases up for renewal every 5 years
2052 to 2053
Panels removed after 25 year service term
Leases terminated
Connect with the Project
Read more about the project, including answers to frequently asked questions, here.
Read the City of Richmond project press release.
Learn more about the benefits of solar on our Energy Policy page.
The Office of Sustainability will continue to update the community as the project progresses. For more information or questions, please reach out to Dawn Oleksy, Office of Sustainability Clean Energy Manager, at dawn.oleksy@rva.gov.