Dominion buys solar developer Birdseye Renewable

Dominion may be hoping to ease some of the pushback that local communities have shown to the development of utility-scale solar projects.

May 11, 2021 Tim Sylvia

Image: Dominion

Dominion Energy entered into a definitive agreement to buy utility-scale solar developer Birdseye Renewable Energy.

Birdseye has developed 1 GW of operating and contracted assets and has an active solar and storage development pipeline. For Dominion, Birdseye will support the development of regulated and long-term contracted solar and storage projects.

A critical point of the sale, and something that both companies highlighted, is Birdseye’s emphasis on collaboration with the local communities where they work. This is especially critical for Dominion, as much of the company’s service area is in Virginia, a state that has seen many battles over solar projects.

The 2019 saga of sPower’s proposed 500 MW solar project in Spotsylvania county, Virginia, was perhaps the most visible instance of a Virginia community at odds with a large-scale solar installation. However, earlier this month, the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors, following a public comment period rejected Strata Solar’s proposed 150 MW Maroon Solar Facility.

This acquisition by Dominion could well have been facilitated in order to ensure, or at least improve, community support for the utility’s future solar endeavors.

Onpeak Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor to Birdseye during the course of the transaction.

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