News4 was sent a copy of a ruling by Virginia state regulators saying they are denying a request to hit pause on a controversial high voltage transmission line that’s planned to run right through a Loudoun County neighborhood and next to school property.
It’s a massive project that Dominion Energy says is needed to help keep the lights on Loudoun, but it could come at the cost of snatching up some land from homeowners.
Earlier Monday, Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors, the school board, the Loudoun Valley Estates HOA and even Dominion Energy joined in a motion asking state regulators to hit pause on this highly controversial and impact project.
State regulators said no – they won’t hit pause.
News4 called Loudoun County Public Schools to ask what exactly this means right now. They hadn’t even heard the news yet, so their lawyers are getting to work but it sounds like this case could be headed to the state supreme court.
What’s at stake
Vicky Hu lives in the Loudoun Valley Estates neighborhood in Ashburn, Virginia right in the heart of “data center alley.”
Dominion Energy said it needs to connect to substations to keep the lights on Loudoun. Dominion said this isn’t a data center project, but in the same breath, Dominion said the data center industry is straining the power grid because of how much power they suck up.
To build a new transmission line, Dominion needs approval from a state regulator called the State Corporation Commission, or the SCC.
There were, effectively, two options for this transmission line. The SCC said it prefers a route that cuts through school property, but it would require school board approval.
If no approval, then it would trigger approval of a route that cuts through Hu’s property and the neighbors’.
Here’s where the neighbors got clever. They donated a plot of land in yellow to the school board, disrupting the backup route. The school board didn’t sign off on either route and asked state regulators to hit pause or it could go to the Virginia Supreme Court.
The regulators aren’t slowing down, saying in their motion, “continued delay in this matter unreasonably jeopardizes the provision of reliable electric service with the commonwealth.”
Even for those who don’t live in this neighborhood or don’t have kids in these schools, the bigger picture here is asking the very real question of what precedent might be set by approving either of routes despite the resounding opposition.
News4 spoke with the Loudoun Valley Estates HOA President Victor Block on Monday, and he said this fight is bigger than one neighborhood.
“When we’re only looking at these little sections in isolation, you don’t know what’s next, and I think that’s a big part of the fear like, what is next?” Block said.
Just last week, State Del. JJ Singh told News4 he’s been getting calls from legislators in other states asking what Virginia and Loudoun County are doing to mitigate data center sprawl and growing thirst for more electricity.
Singh called Virginia the canary in the coal mine, and the canary is chirping so loudly that other states can hear it. Will Virginia’s own regulators hear it and listen?
