Dominion Energy bets big on batteries with a 3.5 GW storage buildout
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
- Dominion Files IRP With 3.5 GW Battery Buildout: Dominion Energy's new integrated resource plan calls for 3.5 GW of battery energy storage systems across the PJM region over 20 years, one of the largest utility storage commitments on record. Energy Storage News. Read More: Energy Storage News.
- Colorado Approves 120 MW Solar on State Trust Land: The state greenlit the NextEra-developed Mirasol Solar Project in Pueblo County — 120 MW of solar paired with 200 MW of battery storage — with revenue flowing to Colorado's Public School Fund. PV Magazine USA. Read More: PV Magazine USA.
- South Carolina Lands $815M Solar Financing Deal: A 360 MW solar financing package worth $815 million was announced, part of a broader wave of utility-scale project activity spanning multiple states. Solar Builder. Read More: Solar Builder.
- Captona Backs 55 MW Nexamp Community Solar Portfolio: Captona closed an equity investment in Nexamp to finance 55 MW of solar and 5 MWh of storage across 10 community solar projects in Illinois, Maine, and two other states. Power Magazine. Read More: Power Magazine.
- Ultium Cells Brings New Battery Chemistry to Tennessee: The GM joint venture will produce lithium manganese rich prismatic battery cells at its Spring Hill, Tennessee facility, adding a new chemistry to domestic EV battery manufacturing. CleanTechnica. Read More: CleanTechnica.
Solar & Storage
Colorado's approval of the Mirasol Solar Project marks the largest solar lease ever granted on state trust land — a model that other Western states will be watching closely. The 120 MW solar installation in Pueblo County, developed by NextEra Energy subsidiary Mirasol Energy Center, comes paired with 200 MW of battery energy storage and is scheduled for commercial operation in late 2028. Revenue from the lease will support Colorado's Public School Fund, giving the project a built-in constituency that many utility-scale solar developments lack. For developers eyeing state trust lands elsewhere, the Pueblo County deal establishes a template: pair generation with storage, tie revenue to a public benefit, and the politics become considerably easier. Read More: scheduled for commercial operation in late 2028.
Across the Southeast, South Carolina drew an $815 million solar financing deal covering 360 MW — a sign that capital continues to flow into Southern markets despite federal policy uncertainty. That deal was part of a broader project roundup that also included a gigawatt-scale battery project in Boston and a 210 MW battery storage partnership in Utah, according to Solar Builder. The sheer dollar figures involved — nearly a billion for a single state's solar pipeline — reflect how much institutional capital is now committed to these projects regardless of shifting political winds in Washington. Read More: Solar Builder.
On the distributed side, Captona's equity investment in Nexamp will finance 10 community solar projects totaling 55 MW of solar and 5 MWh of battery storage across Illinois, Maine, and two additional states, according to Power Magazine. Community solar remains one of the few clean energy segments with broad bipartisan appeal at the state level, and continued private equity interest suggests the economics hold up even at modest scale. Meanwhile, in Buffalo, a demonstration project will test whether larger battery storage systems can reliably power an apartment building, storing excess energy for peak demand — a concept that, if proven, could reshape how multifamily housing interacts with the grid. Read More: Power Magazine, demonstration project.
Dominion Energy's IRP filing is the week's most consequential planning document for the storage sector. The 3.5 GW battery buildout across PJM over 20 years, reported by Energy Storage News, follows the utility's separate announcement of 21 GW in solar procurement covered in yesterday's briefing. Taken together, Dominion is effectively planning to build a parallel grid of dispatchable renewables across Virginia and surrounding PJM states. For battery manufacturers and EPC contractors, this is a procurement pipeline large enough to justify dedicated supply chain investments. State regulators in Virginia will have significant say over how much of this plan actually gets built and at what pace. Read More: Energy Storage News.
Not all the storage innovation is lithium-ion. Sacramento-based Qnetic has begun testing its Pulsar flywheel energy storage system, a mechanical storage solution rated at 200–500 kWh that the company positions as a competitor to lithium-ion for grid applications, PV Magazine USA reports. Qnetic plans a pilot program with Sacramento Municipal Utility District and intends to manufacture commercially at its Sacramento headquarters. Flywheels offer faster response times and longer cycle life than batteries but have struggled on cost — SMUD's pilot will be the first real test of whether Qnetic's design can change that calculus. Read More: PV Magazine USA reports.
Wind Energy
No major U.S. wind project announcements landed today — a quiet stretch for a sector still navigating permitting bottlenecks and supply chain adjustments. Internationally, SSE started operations at a 17.3 MW onshore wind farm in Puglia, Italy, with power sold under a Microsoft purchase agreement, reNEWS reported. The Microsoft PPA is notable as another data point in the tech sector's growing role as an anchor buyer for renewable generation across global markets. Read More: reNEWS reported.
Policy & Markets
Washington, D.C.'s utility operator Pepco has approved ConnectDER's meter collar products for solar, battery storage, and EV charging installations, Solar Power World reports. The approval puts ConnectDER's adapter technology in service across 54 utilities nationwide, reaching roughly 40 million households. It sounds like plumbing, but interconnection bottlenecks remain one of the most stubborn barriers to rooftop solar adoption; standardized meter collar approvals across more utilities could meaningfully reduce installation timelines and soft costs. Read More: Solar Power World reports.
In domestic manufacturing, Ultium Cells — the GM-LG joint venture — announced plans to produce lithium manganese rich prismatic battery cells at its Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, CleanTechnica reported. LMR chemistry promises higher energy density with less nickel and cobalt, and producing it domestically could help GM vehicles qualify for federal EV tax credit requirements tied to domestic content. The move also diversifies the U.S. battery manufacturing base beyond the NMC and LFP chemistries that currently dominate. Read More: CleanTechnica reported.
Chicago-based Solesca released version 2 of its cloud-based solar design platform, adding 3D terrain modeling for commercial, industrial, and community solar projects, according to PV Magazine USA. The tool aims to help developers identify site constraints earlier in development — grading issues, shading from ridgelines, drainage problems — to cut down on costly redesigns. For developers working through large pipelines of community solar sites, that kind of early-stage screening can be the difference between a profitable project and one that dies in engineering. Read More: PV Magazine USA.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Dominion IRP Review: Virginia regulators will begin reviewing Dominion's integrated resource plan, which calls for 21 GW of solar and 3.5 GW of battery storage — a proceeding that will shape the PJM region's generation mix for decades.
- Qnetic-SMUD Flywheel Pilot: Sacramento Municipal Utility District's planned pilot of Qnetic's flywheel storage system will test whether mechanical storage can compete with lithium-ion at the grid edge — results expected in the first half of 2027.
- Colorado Mirasol Project Permitting: With state trust land approval secured, the 120 MW Mirasol Solar Project in Pueblo County moves into the construction permitting phase ahead of its late-2028 commercial operation target.
TODAY'S QUICK ANSWERS
Q: What does Dominion's combined 21 GW solar and 3.5 GW storage plan mean for PJM developers?
A: It creates one of the largest single-utility procurement pipelines in the country, likely spread across competitive solicitations over 20 years. Developers and storage integrators operating in Virginia and surrounding PJM states should expect Dominion to be a consistent anchor buyer — but the timeline and pace depend heavily on how state regulators in Richmond evaluate the IRP. Early positioning on interconnection and land rights in Dominion's service territory could prove decisive.
Q: Why does Colorado's state trust land solar lease matter beyond that one project?
A: Western states collectively manage tens of millions of acres of trust land, much of it flat, sunny, and near transmission. Colorado's Mirasol deal — pairing 120 MW of solar with 200 MW of storage and directing revenue to the Public School Fund — creates a replicable model. If other states follow, trust lands could become a major siting pathway that sidesteps the local zoning fights that stall projects on private land.
Q: What should investors watch with the new battery chemistries coming to U.S. manufacturing?
A: Ultium Cells' move to produce lithium manganese rich prismatic cells in Tennessee signals a diversification beyond NMC and LFP that could improve energy density while reducing reliance on nickel and cobalt supply chains. Investors should track whether LMR-based vehicles can meet domestic content thresholds for federal EV tax credits — that eligibility question will determine how much consumer demand flows toward GM's next-generation models.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Dominion's back-to-back filings for 21 GW of solar and 3.5 GW of storage confirm that large regulated utilities have moved past the question of whether to build clean energy at scale and are now staking their entire generation planning on it — making state regulatory proceedings, not federal policy, the real bottleneck.