Loudoun Transmission Line Debate Tees Up SCC Response to Data Center Needs, Resident Concerns

“Property values are going to go down, utility bills are going to go up as a result. And I think there’s a huge issue when it comes to, one, putting these lines through communities,” U.S. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Loudoun, told the State Corporation Commissioners and a packed school auditorium of local residents Thursday night at the first SCC public hearing about Dominion Energy’s proposed high-powered transmission lines, which are slated to cut through Northern Virginia neighborhoods.

Commissioners of the State Corporation Commission listen to public testimony in Loudoun County. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)

Hundreds of community members in the three Loudoun Valley Estates neighborhoods showed up  to the hearing to push back against plans for the 500kv lines to be built in their backyards. Dominion has told state regulators the lines are necessary to bring more energy to data centers. All three commissioners listened to the worries of community members, many of whom have been mounting a vigorous campaign to educate the public about what the project could mean for their home values and safety.

The 165-foot towers would carry power from substations in the area to complete the “reliability loop of power” that will help energize hundreds of data centers just outside Ashburn, in so-called Data Center Alley.

“My power needs are being met. These are being built for the rapidly expanding data centers. So let the data center industry pay for this solution, not the families and ratepayers living under the power lines,” said Jatinder Chandok, a resident of Loudoun Valley Estates.

The Golden to Mars transmission line will be the final piece of the loop. Two-thirds of it have already been approved and are in different stages of development. There are six different routes Dominion proposed to the SCC for the Golden to Mars line, but some face more challenges than others.

Golden to Mars

Two of the proposed lines for the last part of the loop, routes three and four, run along Loudoun County Public Schools property near Rock Ridge High School and Rosa Lee Carter Elementary School. The school board has rejected the lines being near school property, and the SCC can’t make the schools put the lines on their property.

“(Route 3) remains our preferred route, and we are hoping to begin another conversation with the Loudoun County Public Schools,”  Rob Richardson with Dominion said at Thursday’s meeting.

Some residents spoke of wanting the lines to be buried underground, and signs with slogans supporting that solution dot the front yards of homes surrounding the area. Dominion has said that burying the lines is too costly, there isn’t enough land available for the lines to run underground, and there are underground utilities that could get in the way.

“The lack of land for transition stations is one issue. The presence of diabase rock, which impacts construction, and other underground utilities are another. One significant issue is that the time to construct it would take longer than is needed,” Richardson said.

If the school board does not change course, then the lines would have to go through another proposed route that cuts through the yards of some of the Loudoun Valley Estates residents, who live atop the hill next to the high school or along the Loudoun County Parkway. They fear the health impacts of the high-voltage lines being so close to their homes, and are concerned they may be forced to leave or see their home values tank.

The county Board of Supervisors previously voted against routes one, two, and five because they believe the look of the powerlines along the parkway do not fit the aesthetic character of the area. They also suggested that any lines that come within 500 feet of a school or home should be buried, which would be an unenforceable recommendation. One of the board members, along with several of the homeowners, said this could be a chance for Dominion to set an example of responsibility by burying lines as power demands grow.

“An investment in a pilot program to underground part of this line will provide a new approach to minimizing and mitigating the impacts on residential communities that will be increasingly impacted by transmission lines to serve data centers,” Loudoun County Supervisor Laura TeKrony said. “Loudoun County has lower taxes because of data centers, but data centers are lowering the value of the county as a desirable place to live because of the industrialization that transmission lines and substations are creating.”

A number of state lawmakers have urged the SCC to consider if the line at the center of the controversy is truly needed and to conduct independent research into the feasibility of burying all the lines.

Dominion has stated that if this power loop is not completed, it could damage their equipment and create an energy gap for the data centers. There is also the possibility of violations from the grid operator PJM for not providing that power.

Commissioners said that over 1550 pages of public comment have been submitted on this case already. A second public hearing is being held at the Rock Ridge High School on Sept. 29 ahead of the December case in Richmond. A decision on the powerlines is not anticipated until 2026.

by Shannon Heckt, Virginia Mercury

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