We warned Supervisors Ann Wheeler, Kenny Boddye, Andrea Bailey, Victor Angry, and Margaret Franklin that data center development had impacts not only to the residents nearby, with industrialization of their communities, but that EVERY Dominion Energy rate payer would be responsible for covering ALL the power for one private industry.
Does that sound even remotely fair to anyone? It sure doesn’t to the Coalition.
Don’t be confused by the name of this project – Daves Store. This transmission line substation project/extension cord is 100% driven by multiple data center customer’s load demand along Wellington Road and the intersection of Catharpin / Route 55. (Brentsville community meeting details below)
The Coalition showed the below picture from February 2021 to the Board of Supervisors, explaining that this depiction was a screen shot from a zoom meeting with Dominion Energy, warning what was on the horizon if this Board approved data center development outside the overlay at the intersection of Catharpin and route 55. The three green circles are the substations, and the star is on top of the straight line representing a possible transmission line route.
We know what resulted. The Village Tech Park data center complex has ruined The Villages community, a mixed-use development that for more than a decade was expecting a Town Center next door, but instead got this…..
Now the chickens have come home to roost on what the Coalition warned back in 2021; and the predictable next phase of impacts from data center development has begun — the transmission line and substation infrastructure, ie the data center “extension cord” development.
As a reminder to everyone: Below is the statement from the State Corporate Commission staff agreeing with the Coalition position — Data Center companies should be forced to pay for THEIR own infrastructure; and the line should be buried to avoid harming the larger community.
SCC-Staff-Legal-Brief-080516.pdf (protectpwc.org)
It is CRYSTAL CLEAR: Remove the power need for ONE INDUSTRY and this disruptive project disappears.
Information for the Daves Store Data Center Transmission Line:
The Coalition is questioning whether the three substations (Daves Store, Gemini, Atlas) by 29/I-66 actually require SUPs (Special Use Permit), being outside of the data center overlay district.
A Dominion Energy informational meeting is being held in the Brentsville district next Tuesday – details below.
The Coalition’s expectation is that Dominion will host a meeting in both the Brentsville AND the Gainesville districts for this project — which affects BOTH districts.
| Daves Store | Dominion Energy The Daves Store project runs from the intersection of I-66 and Route 1 to the intersection of Wellington Road and Rollins Ford Road. This project will serve continued economic development as well as provide critical reliability to the electric grid. www.dominionenergy.com |
Your presence and voice WILL have an impact. Show up and Demand this line be undergrounded and the data center customers pay!
Community Meeting
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Gainesville High School
13150 University Blvd.
Gainesville, VA 20155