Massive Joshua Falls-Yeat transmission line threatens Virginia farms

Valley Link Transmission LLC (a joint venture including Dominion Energy) revealed that the proposed 765 kilovolt “Joshua Falls-Yeat” transmission line is being routed through a nine-county corridor in central Virginia, with possible routes that would stretch about 115 miles from Lynchburg to Culpeper.

• Main announcement: The proposed project (Joshua Falls-Yeat) would create a roughly 115-mile high-voltage corridor with a 200-foot right-of-way, clearing 2,600+ acres of forests and farms and placing transmission towers up to 160 feet tall; the corridor is being considered as a backbone to connect additional lines and generation to serve rapidly growing data center demand.
• Background and details: Dominion reports it has received requests to serve data centers totaling over 70 gigawatts, plans to spend as much as $3 billion per year on transmission projects, and PEC is actively intervening before the Virginia State Corporation Commission (with additional PEC actions planned in 2026); Preservation Virginia has named the nine-county corridor to its Most Endangered Historic Places 2026 list.