Three Central Virginia counties have committed a combined three-quarters of a million dollars to fighting a proposed high-voltage transmission line. They're joined by a growing coalition of localities across multiple states opposing a large-scale energy grid overhaul. WMRA's Anjoleigh Schindler reports.
The proposed Joshua Falls-to-Yeat line would carry 765 kilovolts of electricity roughly 115 miles across Central Virginia, from Campbell to Culpeper County.
The project is being developed by a joint venture between Dominion Energy, FirstEnergy Transmission, and Transource Energy.
And Joshua Falls-to-Yeat is only one piece of a much larger transmission buildout being developed under the name Valley Link. The Daily Progress previously reported that Buckingham, Louisa and Goochland counties had each allocated up to $250,000 toward opposition to the Valley Link project.
Duane Adams, chairman of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, said in a March meeting –
DUANE ADAMS: Who in Louisa County wants an interstate highway system running through the middle of our county, whether it's for cars or electricity? That's not appropriate. That destroys the ag and forestry districts in this county, that destroys vasts amounts of farmland, that destroys residential value. It’s a 765-kV transmission line, the highest voltage in the United States. Why do you want that running through the center of our county?
Another proposed 765-kilovolt line, called Valley North, would stretch roughly 260 miles from Putnam County, West Virginia, to Frederick County, Maryland. The project also calls for new substations in those states. Valley Link is also developing the proposed Thornburg Substation in Caroline County, Virginia. In July, the Frederick County, Virginia Board of Supervisors also passed a resolution that sets aside their own $250,000 to fight Valley North.
Valley North is already facing organized opposition in neighboring states. County commissions in West Virginia, including Barbour, Upshur, Lewis and Preston counties, have formally opposed the project.
Residents and local officials along proposed routes have raised concerns about impacts to private property, agriculture and the rural character of their communities. Proposed transmission towers could stand as tall as 165 feet.
Dominion Energy says the coordinated opposition does not change its strategy or timeline.
In a written response to WMRA, Dominion said Virginia is facing what it called “historic load demand” and that additional transmission capacity is needed now. Increased demand is largely being driven by data centers concentrated in Northern Virginia.
The company acknowledged that transmission construction has unavoidable impacts, but said it will work to minimize them.
Dominion also says it is continuing to meet with county officials and solicit their input.
And while the company expects some additional fine-tuning of proposed routes before its planned September filing with the State Corporation Commission, it says residents should expect less substantial changes than in previous revisions.
So, what can hundreds of thousands of dollars in county funding actually do once the project reaches state regulators?
Greg Weatherford is with the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
GREG WEATHERFORD: It just essentially means to be a participant, an active participant in the case, and have the right to present evidence and to cross examine and that kind of stuff.
Weatherford is describing what it means for a county to become an “intervener” in an SCC case.
The SCC proceeding functions much like a court case. As interveners, counties could …
WEATHERFORD: Cross examine witnesses, call their own witnesses, and enter things into evidence and so on.
Goochland County says that is what part of its money is intended to support.
In a written statement to WMRA, the county says its $250,000 allocation will fund efforts including outside legal counsel and professional and technical experts.
Goochland says those resources will help ensure the county’s interests are represented and the project’s potential impacts are thoroughly evaluated.
Louisa County says it has already retained outside counsel and begun spending some of its authorized funding on legal coordination and advising.
County spokesperson Cindy King said, in a statement to WMRA, attorney Dale Mullen of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston is serving as coordinating counsel for what the county describes as a nine-county coalition.
King says counsel has already worked on correspondence to the regional transmission system PJM Interconnection and Valley Link, though the county did not provide WMRA with a dollar amount spent so far.
Buckingham County did not respond to WMRA’s request for comment about its allocation.
Weatherford says transmission cases involve a particularly specialized area of utility regulation.
WEATHERFORD: So, because it’s such a very complicated and kind of arcane regulatory area … it’s hard to hire just any attorney and have them come in and understand the entire situation. You want to have an expert in this case.
Weatherford cautioned that he could not say how any particular county intends to spend its appropriation. But having attorneys and experts could matter because commissioners ultimately have to make their decision based on evidence formally entered into the record.
WEATHERFORD: So, it’s important to get things in evidence that the different parties think are important, so the commission can legally use that as part of their decision making.
Members of the public can also participate as public witnesses. Their sworn testimony becomes part of the record.
The intervening counties are also coordinating with other localities affected by Valley Link. But not every locality has committed money to the effort.
Campbell County told WMRA it has not allocated any specific funding toward the project and has not retained outside legal counsel or technical experts.
Weatherford says that cooperation does not give the counties additional procedural power before the SCC, though they could choose to collaborate on their approach.
He says coordinated county participation in a case like this is not particularly unusual.
What does stand out is the project’s scale.
WEATHERFORD: This is a very large transmission case, but the procedure will be essentially the same. The difference will be the scale of the people affected. But the actual process itself will be the same as it always is.
Ultimately, the SCC will have to decide whether the proposal meets requirements established under Virginia law. Weatherford says those standards require commissioners to consider a range of evidence, including potential effects on the environment, households and other properties.
WEATHERFORD: The commission is bound to handle this by the law, and the law is set by the General Assembly.
Weatherford says a transmission case of this scale could produce thousands of pages of documentation and days of hearings before commissioners make a decision.
