Dear Coalition Supporters,
As we approach the decade anniversary of the formation of the Coalition to Protect Prince William County, we can take some small measure of comfort that this little itty bitty all-volunteer 501(c)4 nonprofit had it right – from the beginning.
Amazon rumor prompts fight in Haymarket | Headlines | insidenova.com
During the 2016-2018 SCC hearings on the Haymarket Amazon transmission line, and after many conversations with experts in transmission vs distribution infrastructure, the Coalition to Protect PWC put forth a novel approach to force the data center developers to cover their own cost — the utility’s line extension policy. But for the magnitude of these bulk load customers, these massive transmission solutions for their power were simply oversized distribution lines. We felt then, as we do now, that hitting the data centers in their “pockets” would be the only way to force the innovation we knew needed to happen.
This community NEVER gave up, and in the end, we did partially win. After a nearly five-year long fight with many twists and turn, we ultimately forced Dominion Energy to settle on the partially buried Hybrid route.
Now here we are, a decade later, and the SCC is holding a forum in December. In their list of solutions to be explored, is the “LINE EXTENSION POLICY”!
To refresh your memory, here are the links to both the Coalition’s and the SCC’s Legal Staff post hearing brief.
Coalition-Legal-Brief.pdf (protectpwc.org)
The evidence is clear, however, that the Project is being constructed solely to serve one existing retail customer and would not be needed without that customer. For that reason, the Coalition argued that the Customer for whom the Project is being constructed should bear the costs of the Project in accordance with Section 22 D of Dominion’s terms and conditions.
SCC-Staff-Legal-Brief-080516.pdf (protectpwc.org)
Thus, in viewing these “line extensions” to large contingent loads, the Commission may wish to require the customer requiring such project to put some of its own skin into the game. Otherwise, the general public, already burdened by the environmental and aesthetic impacts of otherwise unneeded transmission projects, is not also burdened with 100% of the otherwise unnecessary costs. Line Extension Policy One way to ensure that prospective developers of large block loads who request service that can only be provided through development and construction of new transmission products bear the costs of such construction would be the application of DVP’s Line Extension policy,
Why does all of this matter now? Because YOUR electricity bills will AT LEAST double within the next ten years.
“According to company spokesperson Jeremy Slayton, in order for Dominion to meet the rising demand due to new data center opening in Virginia, they’ll increase energy production ……”
“Meanwhile, to help pay for the increase in energy production and usage, Dominion says the average residential customer’s bill will increase by about 50% by 2039.”
We are also including the State Corporate Commission link to read more about the panel discussion on the impacts of data center load demand on our grid and on ratepayers.
Finally, to understand the impact Virginia is making on holding the industry accountable by demanding the truth, just read this article!
The data center industry needs a thicker skin – DCD (datacenterdynamics.com)
“For what it’s worth, DCD is happy to talk with opposition groups to understand their stories. From our experience, these are mostly reasonable people with opinions about the future of where they live. Hearing their perspectives first-hand can be a great way to understand their objections and potentially find a middle ground.”
“But ignore them now and the future could see Just Stop Oil or Extinction Rebellion-type activist groups starting to target data centers. The likes of the Sierra Club and the Piedmont Council, though occasionally litigious, play by the rules.”
“Would you rather have a difficult conversation with a Piedmont Council member in person at a data center event today, or deal with people gluing themselves to your servers in protest a few years down the line? I can see it happening if things don’t change, especially as more media outlets cover the industry with increasing regularity and in a less complimentary light in future.”
An opportunity to join a conversation with Sierra Club:
“…Virginians are being forced to sacrifice our communities while big tech and Dominion profit. Data center development is creating an energy emergency that Dominion is using as an excuse to build a fleet of fossil fuel plants, with 110% of the construction costs falling on ratepayers, effectively doubling our electric bills. As the data center capital of the world, we cannot afford to continue down a road of destructive, unchecked data center development.”
Join us to fight back against the data center crisis.
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