Community pushes back on Valley Link transmission line proposal

Valley Link Transmission Company (a partnership of Dominion Energy, Transource, and FirstEnergy) has proposed the 115-mile, 765kV Joshua Falls-Yeat transmission line to deliver power to data centers; the project is estimated to cost $1 billion, with substantial costs expected to be borne by Virginia ratepayers.

• Project details and next steps: The proposal is a 115-mile, 765kV transmission project selected by PJM (Feb 13) to serve Dominion’s growing data center queue; Valley Link completed a first round of community meetings, is compiling feedback, is expected to hold a second round of community meetings in June, and will then file for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
• Local response and related actions: There is unanimous opposition from Orange County boards and other counties (Louisa, Fluvanna, Spotsylvania); Orange County School Board and Board of Supervisors filed formal comments (Mar 17 and Mar 20); large community turnouts were recorded (Mar 9 ~500 attendees; Mar 24 ~1,000 attendees or online viewers); PEC is actively engaged (public remarks, informational flyers, calls-to-action) and is also pushing the Town of Orange to require Special Use Permits for data centers and to limit data centers above 40,000 square feet. PEC references a PEC-commissioned Vantage study estimating $53 million - $99 million in annual health damages from onsite power at a Virginia data center.