(This email is long and contains critical information)
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$64 billion of data center projects have been blocked or delayed amid local opposition
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It is unfortunate (or VERY telling?) that Dominion Energy has now chosen to remove the more detailed routing of not only their preferred route, but the numerous alternative routes as well for the transmission lines that will slice and dice through even more neighborhoods, taking private property — property which families worked really hard to purchase.
** Dominion Energy just responded today to our inquiries about missing maps on their Morrisville-Wishing Star project page: “The project team is finalizing the conceptual maps and they should all be back up on the project website in the next day or so in advance of the community meetings next week.”
Get ready for the obfuscation and the games at the upcoming May 15 Dominion community meeting. Get ready for Dominion to sell you a bill of goods based on half-truths.
The detailed maps on the Morrisville-Wishing Star project site have now vanished. But luckily, we have some screenshots from Facebook and their Virtual Town Hall (below)
Dominion held a virtual meeting on May 5th, and even THAT map is now not available; nor is the recording of that meeting posted and available online.
Wondering about the sudden ‘disappearing act’ of ALL the alternative routes? We have requested those maps be made public again. Until then, we will share the few screenshots we have of what Dominion previously published to the public.
The Coalition to Protect PWC attends all Dominion’s PWEEG meetings (Prince William Energy Engagement Group) so that we can share as much factual information with the community.
The background story of this 36 mile 500KV transmission line, snaking its way through three counties, needs to be told in full.
Dominion’s initial proposal in 2022 to upgrade this 2008 corridor was to replace the two existing 500kV lines along the existing easement with three 180 ft tall monopoles.
You are probably asking why doesn’t Dominion Energy just go with their original plan? Why now expand the easement? Why go through this nightmare of exercising eminent domain on homeowners, risking pushback by taking county-owned land, impacting Catharpin Park, and absorbing even more of the Manassas National Battlefield Park? And finally — why burn THEIR own image by damaging numerous conservation easements?
Notes from the last PWEEG meeting on March 10, 2025 explain the change from replacement within the existing right of way, to instead taking of more land for adding a third line.
Discussion of the ONE preferred Dominion Energy Route:
Dominion rep:
“Originial consideration was keeping all improvements within the existing right of way. In order to do that you have a planned outage. An outage means to take a line out of service. With a wreck and rebuild you can’t have service going through that line. We could not get the necessary outages for the project in the schedule that we need to provide the power. It would have caused safety and reliability issues.”
This confirms what we knew from the very beginning: The Morrisville to Wishing Star transmission upgrade was proposed as far back as PJM’s 2022 Window 3 RTEP, when the load forecast was only 8 gigawatts. Reliability is an issue because of the unprecedented scale of power this industry is consuming.
Fast forward to now: The load forecast need is 40 GW — which is as much power as 40 nuclear reactors can produce.
What does this mean in plain language? It means the power need is past due.
Dominion HAS to get this third 500kV transmission line done ASAP for data centers already built in Loudoun and Prince William counties. The safety and reliability factor has to do with what happens when Dominion plans an outage. It means Dominion has to redirect that power to ANOTHER line. But there is so much pressure on the grid, they have to figure out where that additional power is absorbed.
We keep asking: If the load demand doubles EVERY YEAR, how realistic is it to think you can create that kind of power generation in that timeframe?
WHY does Dominion NEED to add so much capacity to this corridor? A transmission corridor that runs through Devlin and through the proposed Digitial Gateway area?
Here’s how Dominion answered our questions:
Dominion rep :
“The new 500kv needs to be in service by 2032”
Coalition Question:
“What is the trigger for this Need?”
Dominion rep:
“The load growth that is currently planned, the load growth is certainly driven by data center growth in the area AND Loudoun. This ‘area’ means Northern Virginia.”
PEC (Piedmont Environmental Conservation) rep question:
“When you say reliability though, and we know that the power demand is increasing because of data center in-service electrical agreements…”
Dominion rep:
“Yes, it’s driven by data center demand, but needed to keep the lights on for everyone, to keep power flowing to everyone”
NOW the conversation becomes very interesting, because we ask about the Digital Gateway application:
Coalition rep:
“Is the Digital Gateway included in this line? Is the (Digital Gateway) power demand included”?
Dominion rep:
“So Digital Gateway for this (Morrisville to Wishing Star) line, ummm, I believe a small part of the Digital Gateway was.
Coalition rep:
“OK. Well how small?”
“Is it 100 megawatts?”
Dominion rep:
“I don’t even think it’s that much”
“This is needed regardless of Digital Gateway”
So, there you have it: This third 500kV transmission line WILL NOT provide the power required by the proposed Digital Gateway data center complex, which is a minimum of 3 gigawatts – but most likely more than that, much more. That complex (if lawsuits fail) will require EVEN MORE transmission lines, or possibly building out generation plants co-located NEXT TO data center buildings, most likely gas plants. Clearly, there is not enough power transmission and generation.
Below are some screen shots that were taken by a leader of the new CABSA community organization, when the Dominion project page was actually accessible and from the Dominion Energy Town Hall call on Monday.
Note the close proximity to Chris Yung Elementary, (already surrounded by data centers and now THEIR needed energy infrastructure)
The blue line below is the current easement and Dominion’s “preferred route,” and the green lines are the “alternatives” that have magically disappeared from the Morrisville to Wishing Star project page.
Dear friends, neighbors, fellow homeowners, and renters: It is time for YOU to step up and say Enough is Enough.
The ONLY acceptable option is for Dominion to reconductor this line. They CAN AND MUST do that — instead of taking YOUR property, your neighbor’s property, your local and national park property, and then forcing YOU to pay for it.
Please SHOW UP, wear a blue or green t-shirt, join your friends and neighbors at a rally out in front of Patriot HS. Bring a sign, defend your home, your community, and your pocketbooks from this out-of-control energy infrastructure to meet the needs of the wealthiest industry in the world.
Supervisors Weir AND Gordy will be at the open house.
Thursday, May 15th
Patriot High School
10504 Kettle Run Road
Nokesville
5:30 PM – 7:30pm
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