A proposed transmission line project in Loudoun County can’t be delayed, Virginia’s State Corporation Commission ruled Monday, declining a last-minute request to hold off on a route decision for the project.
Loudoun County Public Schools and Supervisors, and Dominion Energy, had asked the commission to hold off on a decision while the parties worked through challenges associated with the proposed “Golden to Mars” transmission line project. The $513 million plan calls for 230 and 500-kilovolt lines that will help power data centers.
Dominion said the plan will help “keep electricity reliable in your community.” It includes 185-foot towers, and the plan has drawn fierce opposition from the community.
But Monday night, the commission said the selected route will move forward, because delaying the project “unreasonably jeopardizes the provision of reliable electric service within the Commonwealth.” The decision paves the way for the project’s opponents to appeal to Virginia’s Supreme Court.
In April, the State Corporation Commission selected a path called Route 4 for the project. It would have put the line near Rock Ridge High and Rosa Lee Carter Elementary schools. That option would have required school board approval, but the board never provided it.
Instead, the agency announced a different path, Route 3A, would proceed. The commission called that option “clearly inferior.” But Loudoun’s school board accepted donated land from the Loudoun Valley Estates homeowner’s association, meaning both routes include school property.
During a special school board meeting last week, community members expressed concerns with the project’s future and urged the school board to push back against the project.
Robert Brown, for one, said Route 3A would “place major transmission infrastructure in a location with serious impacts on nearby homes, students, educators, school operations, neighborhoods and the Broad Run Stream Valley environment.”
Lauren Lillestolen, meanwhile, said the school board should “make the best choice for its schools, not the SCC. If the school board is unable to block all routes surrounding the schools and alternative options do not exist, please look at the information objectively and choose the route that reduces impact to students at school and at home.”
Vicky Hu has been a vocal critic of the project, because she said part of the proposed route would run along her property. During the meeting, Hu told the board, “When we are drowning, abandoned by the county, you have courage standing up for the school and for the community. I just want to say thank you.”
Dominion and the county had been making “meaningful progress” toward an agreement, according to a State Corporation Commission filing. A joint school board and Board of Supervisors meeting to talk more about the project is scheduled for July 29.
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