Guest Column: Dominion Energy can do it a better way | Opinion | insidenova.com
Dominion’s response: Guest Column: Solving energy needs requires many solutions | Opinion | insidenova.com
Independent opinion piece making the same argument: To keep energy affordable, Virginia must embrace power line innovation | Utility Dive
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Inside NoVa Guest Opinion: Dominion Energy can do it a better way
By Karen Sheehan
June 29, 2025
Because of overwhelming demands for power from unconstrained data center development across Northern Virginia, PJM (our regional energy transmission organization) has approved Dominion Energy adding a third 500-kilovolt line and another 230-kilovolt line to the existing Morrisville-Wishing Star corridor through Fauquier and Prince William counties and into Loudoun County.
Adding these new lines will expand the existing right of way up to 100 feet – taking up to 210 feet of new right of way in some areas. Hundreds and hundreds of additional towers (up to 189 feet tall) will be erected for more transmission lines.
Either option will slice through our neighborhoods, taking private property next to homes and through parks, wetlands and conservation areas, costing close to a billion dollars. This expansion of right of way is opposed by communities along the 36.5-mile route. And there is another way.
Dominion can stay within the existing right of way, use the current towers, finish sooner, double the power capacity and spend less – with advanced composite reconductoring.
Dominion has traditionally used steel-reinforced core aluminum conductor transmission lines (ACSR), invented in the 1900s. The utility rebuilt 6.7 miles in Loudoun County using 1970s steel-reinforced core conductors (ACSS), according to a 2024 study requested by Del. David Reid, D-Ashburn.
When asked, Dominion engineers pushed back against advanced composite conductors for the Morrisville-Wishing Star project, claiming they are not proven.
Advanced composite conductors are proven. More than 90,000 miles of composite conductors have been implemented worldwide since 2009. ACCC (aluminum conductor composite core) has the greatest worldwide deployment, with more than 81,000 miles installed in 61 countries – including American Electric Power deploying 240 miles of such lines with ACCC in Texas in 2016. Risks of permitting delays associated with right-of-way acquisition were seen as a serious deterrent to that time-sensitive project, which was completed in three years – ahead of schedule – and millions of dollars under budget.
Advanced composite conductors can meet a majority of near-term transmission needs through leveraging existing right of way, according to a recent study. The technology could save consumers $85 billion, quadruple current rates of transmission capacity expansion and hit 90% clean energy by 2035, according to Forbes.
The U.S. Department of Energy identified state regulators as critical for moving industry past “early adopter” reluctance with these solutions. Virginia needs to have legislation in place requiring our grid to be improved with advanced composite conductors.
All the facts can be found on the Advanced Composite Reconductoring page on the Coalition to Protect Prince William County website (www.protectpwc.org).
Bottom line: The routes we already have could power twice as much, if replaced with ACCC.
It is irresponsible for Dominion not to incorporate advanced ACCC reconductoring into any plan for a Morrisville-Wishing Star project. Dominion has no excuse for not embracing this common-sense, cost-effective and non-intrusive solution to the challenge it must address because of the continuing tsunami of data centers.
Dominion Energy must stop pillaging our lands, our homes and our pocketbooks for more rights of way and more transmission lines. The utility can improve the quality of service to all customers.
If doubling the power capacity of the Morrisville-Wishing Star corridor with advanced composite reconductoring isn’t enough, how much more capacity is needed for the data center demands driving this project?
Karen Sheehan is a Haymarket resident and director of the Coalition to Protect Prince William County.
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Reconductoring Could Help Solve America’s Looming Grid Crisis – Forbes
“…If reconductoring existing transmission lines with higher-performance wires is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to add capacity to the existing grid without massive new construction projects, why aren’t more utilities taking advantage of this opportunity to expand the grid and bring more clean power online? And why are utilities still choosing technology that’s more than 100 years old?…” more
Accelerating Transmission Expansion by Using Advanced Conductors in Existing Right-of-Way – University of California, Berkeley and GridLab. Energy Institute at Haas
“…we find that large-scale reconductoring with advanced composite-core conductors can cost-effectively double transmission capacity within existing right-of-way (ROW), with limited additional permitting.
…We implement reconductoring in a model of the United States power system, showing that
reconductoring can help meet over 80% of the new interzonal transmission needed to reach
over 90% clean electricity by 2035 given restrictions on greenfield transmission build-out.” more
Advanced Conductors Accelerate Electric Grid Decarbonization and Modernization – CTC Global
“This improved Advanced Conductor design presents a special opportunity: replace the legacy conductor (a hundred-year-old technology) with an Advanced Conductor on an existing transmission structure to substantially upgrade the existing powerline. This wire-for-wire exchange on the existing structure, called reconductoring, can be performed quickly and does not require lengthy and expensive construction and permitting timelines. Doing so accelerates electric grid decarbonization and modernization by rapidly deploying additional transmission capacity, lowering power line losses, and reducing consumers’ electricity bills…” more
Accelerating the grid decarbonizing by Reconductoring existing structures with Advanced conductors – YouTube
Advanced_Conductors_to_Accelerate_Grid_Decarbonization.pdf
“…It is clear that if utilities, states and the nation are to meet carbon reduction goals, “business as usual” is no longer an option when planning for and expanding transmission grid capacity. ..”
“…A major obstacle to increasing grid capacity through the construction of new transmission is that Rights of Way (ROWs) are scarce and new ones are difficult to establish. Existing transmission ROWs should be seen as valuable assets that are often significantly underutilized. The identification of key corridors for capacity enhancement is a critical step for the development of a least-regrets pathway to a decarbonized future. Reconductoring the large amount of aging infrastructure currently in service today using Advanced Conductors is the perfect place to begin…”
“• Transmission planners and owners should:- Integrate Advanced Conductor evaluations into all transmission expansion and interconnection plans and studies.
• State regulators should:- Require utilities to provide analyses on the opportunities for deploying state-of-the-art transmission technologies, including Advanced Conductors. Shift their evaluations from “least cost” to “maximum net benefits” when reviewing technology options for long term plans…” more
Advanced Transmission Technologies Report – final as of 12.3 – FOR PUBLIC_0.pdf – DOE — see pages 25 – 27
FERC
Report__Incorporating-GETs-and-HPCs-Under-FERC-Order-1920__April-21-2025.pdf
Technologies for Powering Virginia’s Data Centers – Written in response to a request for a technical analysis from Virginia Delegate David Reid
A Grid Revamp Could Save Everybody Money, But There’s a Catch – Wall Street Journal
“…One obstacle is the way utilities make money.
Utilities pass costs, from routine maintenance to giant transmission projects, onto consumers. In general, regulators only let them make a profit on capital expenditure. Reconductoring existing lines typically falls under operational spending, so utilities and their investors don’t profit.
Energy-transition advocates say this creates a “capex bias” that encourages new infrastructure rather than upgrades and measures for managing electricity demand.
“If you use a more efficient conductor, there is benefit to the system, but the utilities don’t get a penny for that decision,” Huang said.”…” more
Microsoft Word – 4.4 Reconductoring policy report_mo_clean for pdf.docx
Replacing Wires Could Double How Much Electricity The US Grid Can Handle – CleanTechnica
“…Reconductoring transmission lines could add about 64 TW-miles of new inter-zonal transmission capacity by 2035, compared to about 16 TW-miles from only building new transmission lines…” “…If utilities began deploying advanced conductors on a nationwide scale by replacing thousands of miles of wires, they could add four times as much transmission capacity by 2035 as they are currently on pace to do…” more
“…In many cases, advanced conductors can double existing transmission line capacity at less than half the cost and a fraction of the time as new lines…” more
GIS Dashboard: “This is a high-level work in progress that aims to demonstrate the potential opportunity presented by reconductoring…”
Supporting Advanced Conductor Deployment: Barriers and Policy Solutions – A companion report to the 2035 report
” …this report focuses on the aspects of transmission policy related specifically to reconductoring with advanced conductors. Though advanced conductors are an established technology, the utility industry has yet to adopt them at a scale consistent with their potential. While utilities
like Southern California Edison have embraced advanced conductors across more than
two dozen reconductoring projects many others still only see them as a niche solution…” more
Reconductoring with Advanced Conductors – YouTube
The U.S. Urgently Needs a Bigger Grid. Here’s a Fast Solution. – The New York Times
“A rarely used technique to upgrade old power lines could play a big role in fixing one of the largest obstacles facing clean energy, two reports found.”
…“You don’t have to get permits for new corridors for your transmission lines. You’re using an existing corridor of which you have all the permits,” he said…” more
Reconductoring: Boosting U.S. Grid Capacity Efficiently – IEEE Spectrum
“If we go all-in on reconductoring now it can meet a very significant portion of our transmission needs,”… “What U.S. operators are missing, according to the PNAS report, is the net savings that advanced conductors offer. The wires themselves can cost two to four times more than steel-core wires. But a reconductoring project adds capacity at less than half the cost of new lines by eliminating the land acquisition and permitting costs. And the job can usually be completed in a year or two, rather than the decade typically required to build a new transmission path in the United States.” more
“…Because reconductoring stays within existing rights-of-way and typically reuses existing towers and foundations, it avoids the lengthy environmental and regulatory reviews associated with new lines…” more
“Reconductoring will be most effective within regions that already have dense transmission networks. …Any new lines can also incorporate advanced conductors from the outset.” more
How Advanced Conductors are Supporting Grid Decarbonization | Energy Central
Advanced Conductor Scan Report Summary
“…The costs of reconductoring with advanced conductors is only one-third of the cost of constructing new lines, yet can double the capacity of existing lines…” more
Power Line Reconductoring Considerations | EC&M
Donahue – SCC Tech Conference comments – Advanced Reconductoring 011524
“…I have no financial interests in these matters other than as a homeowner, an electricity ratepayer, and a taxpayer…”
“…• The current system for managing the grid is struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of data center development and, as a result, is bringing solutions to the regulators piecemeal. This approach not only creates additional costs, it does not consider the lost opportunities for greater efficiency or make use of all available technologies.
• Higher-capacity conductors could overcome challenges in some existing transmission corridors, where further expansion would conflict with adjacent housing developments, parks, historic districts, or land conservation efforts.
• Composite-core conductors, with less sagging than ACSS conductors, might be more suitable for double-circuit and monopole towers, which have lines stacked vertically.
• Reconductoring could be implemented more quickly than building new transmission lines and would buy time for Virginia to build its own additional power generation capacity…” more
Advanced conductors – unlocking transmission grid capacity
One easy way to boost the grid: upgrade the power lines
Reconductoring Economic and Financial Analysis (REFA) Tool
How Advanced Conductors Are Supporting Grid Decarbonization and Saving Money – CTC Global