Back in May 2016, the BOCS, at resident’s behest, adopted the Data Center Opportunity Zone and associated zoning text amendments. The express purpose of the amendments was to ensure that residents never again faced the threat to their properties brought about by the Amazon Data Center and its need for electric transmission lines.
Less than three years later, it would appear that the efforts of the BOCS and the public well might be for naught as development interests and complicit Planning Office staff have seemingly embarked on a course of exploiting loopholes to render those amendments meaningless.
For those that do not recall, the issue arose from the circumstances surrounding the surprise appearance of the Amazon data center and associated electrical needs in Haymarket. When proposed, the Amazon facility was to encompass 440,000 Sq. Ft. and generate an anticipated load of 120 MVA at buildout of the final of three buildings. Dominion was able to provide the approximately 40 MVA required to energize Building One by constructing a dedicated 56 kV distribution line along Rt. 55 but at the end of the day, due to Federal Regulations, was required to construct a 230 kV transmission line to accommodate the projected load. Thus began the Amazon power line fight.
In order to prevent the circumstances from repeating themselves, the BOCS adopted the Data Center Opportunity Zone and amendments to the Zoning Ordinance which brings us to the proposal at Gainesville Crossing for a data center complex outside of the Data Center Opportunity Zone. As the site is outside of the zone, the County Zoning Ordinance requires Special Use Permits (SUP) for both the data centers and their associated electrical substations.
This data center application is for 4.5 million square and an estimated load of 300 MVA. Someone smarter than I will have to explain how a facility more than 10 times the size of the Amazon project require only 2.5 times the power but that is an equation for another day. Curiously, unlike Amazon (which failed the assessment), the Gainesville Crossing site does not appear to have requested a review by Dominion as part of its Data Center Site Certification Program. Upon review of the record, it is clear that as of November 14, Dominion had not received a “completed load letter and supporting necessary documentation from the customer”. If this is sounding a bit ominous, it should and it gets worse.
Here is where it gets fun. The Applicant, having initially filed and subsequently withdrawn the applications for those Special Use Permits, amended its request to rezoning under the provisions of the Planned Business District Ordinance (PBD). Why you ask, because Section 32-404.05 of the PBD Zoning Ordinance contains a loophole that allows the developer to request a waiver of all manner of restrictions and permits, a waiver request that staff concurs with. The only requirement is that the developer provide a “justification” of the waiver (the cynic in me suspects this was no accident and occurred at the behest of Planning Office Staff). As one might expect, there is no evidence of that “justification” having been filed. Not to fear, my guess is it will be filed about ten minutes after I publish this post.
In its filing, the Applicant asserts that “the process for approval of the PBD is the same as that for a special use permit”, while that might be partially true, it changes the actions the Planning Commission and BOCS can take if the application is in concordance with the Comp Plan and restricts the conditions that could otherwise be placed on an SUP. This sets a dangerous precedent and largely invalidates the protections expressly adopted by the BOCS.
The Applicant also states that it is “proffering” the data center. Someone will have to explain to me just what the hell that means and what that portends for the future. Will it lead to subsequent circumvention of the County Ordinances that result in other “proffers” for other special uses like asphalt plants or crematoria. How and whom administers such “proffers” and do they create any liabilities?
From a technical standpoint quite of number of questions remain unanswered at this point. While the Applicant asserts that Dominion has assured them it “will serve the property using existing infrastructure as well as the planned infrastructure upgrade”, that assertion does not comport with reality.
In support of its position, the Applicant has provided correspondence from Dominion’s Economic Development Department (not its load engineering department) asserting that Dominion has “performed a preliminary power study to deliver utility electric service to the subject parcel” with “up to 300 MVA of utility service”. But upon review, that does not appear to truly be the case.
While Dominion indicates it “will be able to serve the first 75 MVA capacity needs from a combination of both existing and planned infrastructure” and that “the delivery of the requested load to the site would be accomplished by using existing infrastructure adjacent to the site and extending facilities onto the site where they would terminate in a new switch and primary meter”, it fails to indicate how the remaining 225 MVA of capacity needs would be provided.
Further, with respect the first 75 MVA, Dominion asserts that it “would likely be sourced out of nearby Gainesville substation” thus precluding use of the transmission lines running north of the property.
Moreover, Dominion also asserts that it “will be able to serve the future site needs from the planned infrastructure upgrade of the Haymarket transmission extension that will run across this parcel and is currently under construction”. The SCC testimony and case file clearly demonstrates that is untrue.
Those familiar with the Amazon case are all too well aware of Dominion’s Load Engineer and principal Staff Witness Neil Joshipura’s testimony at the SCC evidentiary hearing in Richmond, testimony in which he unequivocally stated at the Amazon data center would consume “roughly 97 percent” of the projected load carried by the new line. It is worth noting that he also testified that “the need for the line is driven by solely one customer and one parcel rather than any sort of really system-wide network reliability issue.”
What little power remains, 3%, certainly does not equate to either the initial 75 MVA described or the “250+ MVA of capacity”, an amount greater than the capacity of the line, thus making it impossible for the demand to be “fed directly off of the new transmission line where it crosses this parcel”. Moreover, Dominion has already testified that the remaining capacity is required for pending development west of Route 15 which it describes as a “very dynamic load area”.
Additionally, as was demonstrated in the Amazon case, at 200 megawatts a transmission line must be “networked” , thus the double 230 kV Haymarket Transmission line. When that is increased to 300 megawatts as required by this application, the line reaches it’s capacity and another Transmission Line is required.
In addition to capacity questions, neither the Applicant nor Dominion has indicated the proposed terminal points that will be used to connect to the “existing infrastructure”. That is the essence of the initial Amazon issue and places any number of areas from Heritage Hunt to swaths of the Rural Crescent at risk of 100+ foot power towers.
Despite all proactive attempts to preclude these circumstances, the residents of the Gainesville District once again find themselves at risk as a result of poor planning.
The crux of PLANNING is planning for the future. While Dominion attempts to account for the first 75 MVA, it, the Applicant and the Planning Staff make no effort to address the remaining 225 MVA of future load. They provide no indication as how it will be supplied, when and from where.
While there may or may not (I suggest there will be) be an immediate power line impact on surrounding neighbors, the remaining 225 MVA load portends future issues which MUST be addressed as part of this application process so that residents are not blindsided 3, 5 or 10 years down the road with a “by-right”/approved facility that Dominion is mandated to provide power to.
If those issues are not addressed, tonight’s Planning Commission will christen round two of the Dominion Power Wars. This time around, I suspect the impacted residents will be far less patient and understanding.