A controversial plan to build a new transmission line across 115 miles of rural Virginia will help provide power to the northern part of the state, where customers will also be paying for it.
Valley Link鈥檚 Joshua Falls to Yeat Electric Transmission Line Project would use a 765-kilovolt line running from Campbell County to Culpeper County. PJM, which operates the regional grid, approved the project and is considering it a solution to address growing demand.
The line could cost between $1 and $2 billion and is scheduled to be completed by 2029, though Craig Carper, a Valley Link spokesman, said that timeline may change.
In communities along the proposed route, the project has been met with fierce resistance.聽Critics have raised concerns about safety, environmental impacts, changes to neighborhood views and effects on property values.
As heat waves become more common and demand grows from data centers, electric vehicles and smart devices in homes become popular, Virginia will need more power. By 2040, demand is expected to nearly double, Carper said.
鈥淭here’s many drivers toward the increased load demands that we’ve got, but data centers are the lead, and the bulk of those are in that data center alley,鈥� Carper told WTOP.
The project is proposed by Valley Link, a joint venture between Dominion, FirstEnergy Transmission and Transource.
The group studied nine counties. The latest route no longer includes Spotsylvania County and runs through Orange, Louisa, Goochland, Fluvanna, Buckingham, Appomattox, Campbell and Culpeper counties, Carper said.
Fewer than 75 homes are within 500 feet of the proposed line, and fewer than 10 are within 150 feet of the latest route, according to Valley Link.
Valley Link said it aims to minimize impacts on wetlands, conservation easements and historic and architectural resources while avoiding schools, residential neighborhoods and river crossings whenever possible.
It has hosted a series of open houses aimed at addressing concerns and reviewed thousands of public comments.
Much of the proposed route crosses land where Valley Link doesn鈥檛 have existing rights of way, requiring negotiations with property owners. The right of way would extend 100 feet on either side of the center line, Carper said.
Court-settled purchases, he said, 鈥渁re used only as a last resort,鈥� but 鈥渆very landowner is compensated if an easement is put on their land.鈥�
The final design for transmission structures have not been determined. Valley Link plans to submit its preferred route to Virginia鈥檚 State Corporation Commission this fall and expects a ruling in fall 2027.
鈥淭he grid is interconnected,鈥� Carper said. 鈥淧roblems in one region do not stay in one region due to the interconnectivity of the grid.鈥�
He said the grid serves Richmond, Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg and the Shenandoah Valley.
During a Culpeper Board of Supervisors meeting last month, Kathleen Rodgers Kirk said the 鈥渂est parts of Virginia were never meant to be sold. Not now, not ever.鈥�
At the same session, Jim Hurlock called the project a 鈥渃alculated takeover.鈥�
The project includes the proposed Yeat substation in Culpeper, which local elected officials have publicly opposed.
Despite the pushback, Carper said there鈥檚 no alternative: 鈥淭he Plan B does not exist.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 discussions that we鈥檒l need to have with relevant parties to determine what happens if we get to a point where local zoning approval isn鈥檛 granted,鈥� Carper said.
For Rick Kilcoyne, who lives north of Lake Anna, one concern is what he said would be the project’s impact 鈥渙n our view shed here.鈥� He also raised concerns about health effects and property values, saying real estate agents have told him homes with views of power lines can lose value.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to get power everywhere, but there鈥檚 just no local value here,鈥� Kilcoyne said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 just no local value. It鈥檚 just a straight take, which is, 鈥榳e鈥檙e going to run these power lines across here.鈥� The rates aren鈥檛 going down.鈥�
While the project would run through rural Virginia, Carper said it will help power-hungry data centers in Northern Virginia.
鈥淭his is, by its very nature, impactful,鈥� Carper said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no getting around it. We understand that and we appreciate that. We can鈥檛 eliminate the impacts, but we can do our very best to minimize impacts.鈥�
Speaking as a Dominion spokesman, Carper said customers will help cover the cost of the project. On the company鈥檚 bill statements, it includes a transmission section. That portion is expected to go up $1 or $2, Carper said.
鈥淚f one part of the grid is sick, the whole grid is sick,鈥� Carper said.
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