Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) and Lightshift Energy, a battery storage developer, owner, and operator celebrated the completion of Colleen VA BESS 1, a new battery energy storage system (BESS) serving CVEC members in Nelson County. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held yesterday at CVEC’s Colleen Substation in Arrington.

The 4-megawatt (MW), 20-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery system is one of three projects Lightshift is developing with CVEC and one of five in Lightshift’s broader partnership with the Blue Ridge Power Agency (BRPA), which brings cost-saving battery storage to Virginia’s cooperative and public power communities. The system will help CVEC manage peak demand, control costs and support reliable service for its members.

“Rural co-ops are on the front line of rising capacity and transmission costs, and storage gives them a practical way to push back,” said Mike Herbert, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Lightshift Energy. “Lightshift is proud to own and operate this system for CVEC, in partnership with BRPA.”

The system stores electricity when demand on the grid is low and releases it during the year’s highest demand hours, when power costs the most. Lowering CVEC’s peak demand reduces the transmission and capacity charges that drive member bills. The battery is sited at an existing CVEC substation, using grid connections already in place to avoid new land disturbance and defer costly upgrades, and occupies less than one tenth of an acre.

“CVEC continually looks for innovative solutions that make sense for our members and our electric system,” said Gary Wood, President and CEO of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative. “Through our partnership with Lightshift Energy and the Blue Ridge Power Agency, this battery project will help us manage peak demand, control costs, and strengthen reliability while making efficient use of our existing infrastructure.”

The project also marks a first for Lightshift. Colleen VA BESS 1 and Lightshift’s Piney River project, also built for CVEC, are the first Lightshift batteries to directly and automatically manage the load on a utility substation. The systems monitor load on CVEC’s substations in real time and automatically adjust their output to keep that load within substation limits, allowing Lightshift and CVEC to maximize the size and benefits of the battery while ensuring reliable operations of CVEC’s system. Lightshift plans to bring automated substation load management to additional sites across its growing portfolio of distribution-connected battery storage projects.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony brought together Lightshift and CVEC leadership, employees and board members, BRPA representatives, community leaders, and project partners to recognize the completion of the project and learn how the technology will benefit the cooperative and its members.

About Lightshift Energy

Lightshift Energy is a battery storage developer, owner, and operator. Based in Arlington, Virginia, the company designs, finances, constructs, and manages the dispatch of energy storage projects. Lightshift is a market leader in the deployment of distributed battery portfolios that offer a fast and scalable capacity solution while delivering cost savings, renewables integration, grid resilience and other benefits to rural and main street America.

About Central Virginia Electric Cooperative

Central Virginia Electric Cooperative is a not-for-profit electric utility serving 40,000 homes, farms, and businesses in the rural portions of 14 Virginia counties. CVEC connects its members and communities through reliable power and broadband services, delivering world-class, high-speed internet service through its subsidiary, Firefly Fiber Broadband℠. CVEC and its subsidiary are equal opportunity providers and employers. For more information, visit www.mycvec.com.

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