Who Owns RVA Solar 2050?

Richmond Should Answer Before Monday

Richmond's solar proposal is coming back to City Council Monday looking very different from the plan Council rejected just one week earlier.

The original proposal contemplated:

39 City properties.
Approximately 5 megawatts of solar capacity.
Roughly $20 million in projected value over 25 years.

The administration now says the 39-site option is gone because it required approval by October 1.

What remains is:

17 properties.
Approximately 3 megawatts.
Approximately $15 million in projected value over 25 years.

And there's another deadline.

The administration says Council action after October 6 would make the remaining project financially unviable.

That's a lot of change in very little time.

Before Richmond moves forward, Council should answer a basic question:

Who exactly is Richmond doing business with?

Who Owns the Solar Companies?

The proposed agreements aren't simply with a familiar solar company such as Sun Tribe or Madison Energy Infrastructure.

They are structured through companies with names including RVA CC Solar 2050 LLC, RVA DPW Solar 2050 LLC, RVA DPU Solar 2050 LLC, RVA FS Solar 2050 LLC, RVA PD Solar 2050 LLC, RVA PSL Solar 2050 LLC and RVA WW Solar 2050 LLC.

These aren't meaningless corporate names.

Under the proposed Power Purchase Agreement structure, private entities would install solar systems on City property, own and maintain the equipment, and sell the electricity generated back to Richmond.

Yet the publicly available City materials do not make the ultimate ownership of these LLCs readily apparent.

That's important.

If private companies are going to own energy infrastructure sitting on public property for potentially decades, taxpayers should know who owns those companies.

Follow the Corporate Trail

There is a documented corporate trail.

Richmond says the arrangement originated with a 2021 Prince William County Public Schools procurement, which Richmond used through cooperative procurement rather than issuing a new Richmond-specific competitive solicitation.

That procurement history leads to Sun Tribe, a Virginia solar developer with extensive commercial and school solar experience.

Then things changed.

In 2024, Madison Energy Infrastructure acquired Sun Tribe's commercial assets, project pipeline and commercial development team.

Madison also said it had already served as Sun Tribe's preferred commercial solar asset-owner partner for several years.

Madison, in turn, is owned through EQT Infrastructure VI, a major infrastructure investment fund.

So we can document:

Sun Tribe
↓
Madison Energy Infrastructure
↓
EQT Infrastructure VI

But the crucial connection remains unclear:

Madison/Sun Tribe
↓
?
↓
RVA Solar 2050 LLCs

There isn't enough public documentation to simply declare that Madison or EQT owns the RVA Solar 2050 entities.

But Richmond should certainly know.

And Council should ask.

The Numbers Deserve an Explanation

The new proposal creates another interesting question.

Richmond has gone from 39 sites to 17, eliminating more than half the locations.

Generating capacity has fallen from approximately 5 MW to 3 MW, a 40 percent reduction.

Yet projected value has declined from approximately $20 million to $15 million, only about 25 percent.

There may be a perfectly reasonable explanation. Perhaps the 17 surviving projects are the largest and most economically productive installations.

If so, show Council the numbers.

Which 17 projects survived?

Why did those projects remain financially viable while the other 22 did not?

And how is the projected $15 million calculated?

Those answers should be available before Council acts.

Why October 6?

Then there is the deadline itself.

The administration says action after October 6 would make the remaining project financially unviable.

That deserves more than a sentence.

What happens on October 7?

Does a federal tax incentive disappear?

Does financing expire?

Does the electricity price change?

Does an investor commitment terminate?

If the financial viability of a 25-year arrangement hinges on a specific date, Council should understand precisely why.

A deadline may be legitimate.

It should not become a substitute for scrutiny.

Follow the Money

The financing structure also deserves attention.

Richmond has emphasized federal incentives that help make the solar project economically attractive.

But Richmond wouldn't initially own these systems.

The private entities would.

So Council should know who receives or monetizes those federal benefits and how much of that value is reflected in Richmond's electricity price.

The same applies to Solar Renewable Energy Credits, or SRECs.

Richmond's earlier materials contemplate the City receiving a portion of those credits.

Who receives the rest?

How much could they be worth?

Those are part of the economics of the deal.

Seven Questions Before Richmond Moves Forward

Council doesn't need another study to ask the essential questions:

Who ultimately owns each RVA Solar 2050 LLC involved in the remaining 17 projects?
What is their relationship to Sun Tribe and Madison Energy Infrastructure?
Who is providing the equity and financing for the projects?
Who receives the federal tax benefits and SRECs?
Why does the project become financially unviable after October 6?
Why did 22 sites disappear while the remaining 17 still generate a projected $15 million in value?
Can the LLCs, solar assets or PPAs later be sold or assigned to another investor?

Those aren't anti-solar questions.

They're due-diligence questions.

The Clock Shouldn't Replace Transparency

Richmond may ultimately determine that the remaining solar projects make financial sense.

But the circumstances have changed considerably since Council last considered the proposal.

39 sites became 17.

5 megawatts became 3.

Approximately $20 million became $15 million.

And Council is being told the economics may disappear after October 6.

That makes transparency more important, not less.

Before Richmond commits public property and public dollars to a long-term private solar arrangement, the administration should put one basic fact plainly on the record: