!! TWO NEW HVAC Transmissions Lines PROPOSED a 500kV AND a 765kV !!

Underground HVDC Is An Alternative to Overhead HVAC Transmission Lines

The only viable alternative to overhead HVAC transmission lines that would preserve the value of private property, conservation easements, national and state parks faced with the Gore-Doubs-Goose Creek and Valley Link transmission projects would be underground high-voltage direct current (HVDC).  If underground HVDC technology is adapted it will save thousands of private property owners across Virginia form eminent domain easement takings for transmission lines to provide energy for data centers!   Dominion just  proposed a 185 mile entirely underground HVDC transmission line to bring energy from the south of Virginia to the data centers in Northern Virginia.  

Read more about  Underground HVDC here

Loudoun County Board Of Supervisors Public Hearing on the Transmission Infrastructure (mapping transmission corridors across private property!)

When: Wednesday, January 14, 6:00 p.m

Where: Loudoun County Administration Building, 1st Floor Boardroom

1 Harrison St., SE Leesburg, VA 20175 

Attend the Public Hearing and sign up to speak:

• The deadline to sign up in  advance is 12:00pm on Wednesday, January 14. Call 703-777-0200 to sign up in advance. You can choose to provide your comments either in person or remotely by phone.
• You can sign up to speak in person beginning 30 minutes before the start of the meeting. To sign up in  person,see the clerk in the board room.

Comments on the Loudoun County Electrical Infrastructure Plan Amendments must be entered before the January 14th Public Hearing use the County's online form (available here ).  It is possible to upload a document as well.

If your property has an easement for the Mt Storm - Doubs transmission lines or is within 2000 feet of the existing easements your property is in Loudoun County's "sweet spot".   This is a major infringement on private property rights! It would effectively re-zone properties in north western Loudoun for data center infrastructure use. Designating a "transmission corridor" will result in private properties being taken essentially "at will" by utilities in swaths of 50', 100' and 200' - in perpetuity, for the county's stated purpose of providing power to the data centers. 

 The only interstate transmission line is in north western Loudoun (Lovettsville & Neersville areas)! 

The cancelled NIETC corridors were 2 miles wide, for the PATH line AEP asked for a swath 2000' wide from the edge of their easement in which to site a new 200' easement. The expansion does not necessarily abut the existing easement - parallel and co-location are the terms that are being used! 

Please be sure to enter comments and be on the record opposing Loudoun County's Electric Infrastructure CPAM land grab so that you will have standing in a lawsuit against the county.    

Loudoun County has notified adjacent counties about their transmission corridor CPAM including:

• Frederick, Clarke, Fairfax,   Arlington, Fauquier and Prince William counties in Virginia
• Jefferson County, West  Virginia 
• Washington, Montgomery and Frederick counties in Maryland

I don't think any of these counties has looked at or thought about Loudoun's "approved" transmission corridors that will force massive overhead HVAC transmission lines into their jurisdictions.

Once approved we have 30 days to challenge this action in court!! If this goes unchallenged Loudoun County will have appropriated transmission line siting authority and will work directly with energy companies behind our backs just like they did with the  MARL transmission line!

Loudoun County Board Of Supervisors will be voting in January on approval of this CPAM! Comments should be submitted before the end of December!  Check back  - we will post the BOS Meeting date once it is on the agenda.  Once approved we have 30 days to challenge this action in court!!

Virginia is a Dillon rule state, counties in Virginia have no authority to define or approve HVAC transmission corridors.  These are inter-state lines that impact multiple states that are under the authority of the VA SCC,  not Loudoun County.  There are no transmission corridors defined in Virginia and no transmission corridor approval process. The Virginia SCC is the sole entity with siting authority - even the Virginia SCC does not have the authority to define a transmission corridor. The Virginia SCC acts on transmission line applications project by project.

This is next level influence peddling by Loudoun County's BOS. It is a power grab and a land grab! They are granting themselves the "authority" to "collaborate" with the energy companies  behind your back to site transmission lines away from more politically connected areas. 

If your property has an easement for the Mt Storm - Doubs transmission lines or is within 2000 feet of the existing easements your property is in Loudoun County's "sweet spot",   please be sure to enter comments and be on the record opposing Loudoun County's Electric Infrastructure CPAM land grab so that you will have standing in a lawsuit against the county.   

Comments on the Loudoun County Electrical Infrastructure Plan Amendments will be accepted through the County's online form (available here) .  It is possible to upload a document as well.

Dominion's  proposal for a 185 mile entirely underground HVDC transmission line to bring energy from the south of Virginia to the data centers in Northern Virginia has made the short list.  

Underground HVDC is obviously technically feasible.  Once again, PJM  referred to this as the "biggest bang for our buck" they explicitly cited that they would be able to use the existing easements and followed up with  all the technical reasons HVDC is the superior choice.  This is the PJM favorite,  even though the HVDC underground solution is 1.6x  times as expensive as the overhead 765kV proposals - $4.8B vs $2.6B. 

We happen to agree its the superior technology,  this is exactly that folks here have been saying, citing multiple recent papers on underground HVDC, readily available and linked on our own Underground HVDC page.   We have been pushing underground HVDC  for MARL/Gore-Doubs-Goose Creek and Valley Link for almost three years now - for all of the exact same technical reasons plus minimising the impact to national parks, state parks, conservation easements and  6,000+ acres  of private property at risk to be taken.   

Portfolio 275 1A, the underground HVDC project, proposed by our state energy monopoly Dominion, from an energy generation facility in Virginia to Dominion's customers in Loudoun County's data center alley will be paid for by the standard rate formula - 50% to the Dominion Zone and 50% spread across the rest of the rate payers in PJM.   This is the status quo.  Other states pay for Loudoun County's economic plan and the energy crisis Loudoun's unconstrained data center development has created.   No state other than Virginia will benefit from this line - but they will pay for it. 

During the meeting, PJM also announced that the 765kV  Valley Link will have a voltage collapse by 2032 - the line they are aware the line they approved last year fails before it is even built.  Obviously the overhead HVAC solutions they have put in place thus far are deficient. Will they re-evaluate MARL/Gore Doubs-Goose Creek and Valley Link for a single underground HVDC solution?   Nah, they will keep pushing First Energys 50 year old I765 corporate expansion plan.  PJM only selects from the pool of projects proposed - no one proposed an underground HVDC during either of those windows so we get multiple massive overhead lines. PJM "picked the best of the proposals that were submitted"  and they are standing by that decision, because they are always right .  Until one of the states denies the line(s) then they will be proven wrong and PJM will have to solicit bids for a new solution in a new window.

Thank you all who attended to support the Ridgeway Estates subdivision  community, most of the community was there and many of them spoke. It was amazing to see the co

Supervisor  McCann-Slaughter  has asked the staff to a)  Have NextERA hold a public meeting and b) Determine how long the board of supervisors has  to take  action apparently the statue is not clear but the belief was it would be 30 days .   She also indicated that  they would have the lawyers review the case. She stated that she would be following  the recommendation of the attorneys.

No substation can be built in Virginia without approval from the Virginia SCC ,   it is  not clear how much site work they can do prior to getting approval from the Virginia State SCC .  There is a site plan review at the county level  and the site has to conform with the zoning  -  as was said in the meeting the setback appears to be 50 feet.  The Frederick County Zoning Part 401 RA Rural Areas District is linked below. 

The next Board Of Supervisors Meeting is  October 22, 2025 at  7:00pm the agenda will be published Friday October 17 .   We won't know if the Woodside Substation Substantial Accord vote will be held at that meeting until next Friday.  If it is not we will still have the opportunity to speak during the public comment meeting. 

The client always calls the shots in determining whether to defend its actions.  The lawyer merely renders a non-binding opinion.  If the client wants to defend its actions it is the duty of the lawyer to make the best possible defence. The Board Of Supervisors is not bound by the recommendation of the county lawyer(s).

Please continue to send comments to: osh.ludwigs; @fcva.ujohn.jewell@fcva.us;rwells@fcva.us;bdunn@fcva.us;robert.liero@fcva.us;jslaughter@fcva.us;michael.bollhoefer@fcva.us;jtibbs@fcva.us;ann.phillips@fcva.us

And ask Vaughn, Chad and Mollie  to Advocate for the community and speak  out or send a letter to the Frederick County Board of Supervisors :

• Vaughn Whitacre:  Email Vaughn
• Mollie Brannon : Email Mollie
• Charles (Chad) DeHaven: Email Chad

The Berkley Group did a Zoning Ordinance Evaluation, Page 9 states:   Currently, there are many instances where provisions of the Ordinance can be waived or modified after a public hearing before the Board of Supervisors.   

Frederick County is in the process of a  Zoning  Ordinance Update 

Who wants to suggest  updating the part where a  30 acre 500kV  substation can be built "by right"  with  only  a 50' setback from existing residential homes?

More than one Frederick County official has commented that Frederick County can "tap into" Woodside Substation and "get a little energy" for Frederick County.   This is a transmission substation not a distribution substation and that is not how transmission substations work. The longer the span of an HVAC transmission line the  larger the line losses become and the voltage drops. This substation is to step-up the voltage, not to distribute energy in Frederick County.

Please be sure to enter comments and be on the record opposing Loudoun County's Electric Infrastructure CPAM land grab.

Direct Testimony on behalf of Loudoun County in the  Aspen - Golden Docket: Pg 18  Lines 396 - 403 "The County envisions a pilot program that, in  addition to undergrounding all or part of  the pilot project under application, would initiate a long-term planning initiative that would include comprehensive plan reform in the participating locality, to identify future transmission corridors and  specific criteria for selecting underground projects, which would be      favored in all cases. This will create a basis for  Planning Staff and the Planning Commission to review applications for  substantial accord with the comprehensive plan and applicable zoning,  which can stand in place of Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity review in the SCC."

It bears repeating,  given what Loudoun's Planning Commissions have done to Ashburn with the completely unrestrained approval of re-zoning requests for data centers, it's mind-boggling to think people are proposing these same individuals should be allowed to etch-a-sketch transmission lines across private property and approve them and take property by eminent domain to ensure the data centers they approved get the energy they demand. 

Comments on the Loudoun County Electrical Infrastructure Plan Amendments will be accepted through the online form (available here) .

Apparently two members of the Loudoun County Planning commission were involved with the sale of a Fauquier County property that has become part of a plan to build a 2.2 million sq.ft data campus in Fauquier County.  Fauquier Times : "Loudoun County Official could benefit from Fauquier development" 

According to the article, those members were Ron Meyer and Mark Miller. Mr. Miller bought the property on behalf of JAG MK which is an LLC that Eric Combs (another Loudoun County Planning Commissioner) has been on the board of since 2020. One of the Fauquier County Supervisors also sold his property and naturally its being re-zoned.

"Miller is more than just a minor investor in the project – according to Culbertson, the project would never have materialized if Miller had not connected him to Ron Meyer, the former Loudoun County supervisor who put the Remington Innovation Center application together and pitched it to SDC Capital Partners.

As the application inches through Fauquier County’s review process, Meyer’s Loudoun County perspective is front and center – which he projects as an asset.“I represented Data Center Alley,” Meyer told the Fauquier Times"

Eric Combs was appointed by Michael R. Turner (D-Ashburn) and Supervisor Caleb A. Kerschner appointed Realtor Mark Miller.   Loudoun Now:  "Loudoun Planning Commission begins work with 7 new members"

PJM is in the midst of another planning cycle and once again the energy demands from Loudoun's Data Center Alley are leading to overloads ... in 2032 so again PJM has requested transmission proposals because because PJM  can not order generation. There are multiple proposals one of which  double  ups on MARL and adds an additional 200' ROW through Frederick County, VA.

Excerpts from the analysis of the proposals by Keryn at the StopPATHWv  blog are below:

"One of the proposed projects is numbered 896.  This proposal, which may have been made by FirstEnergy or NextEra, calls for turning MARL into a double circuit 500kV transmission line, and adding a second 500kV line to the first segment of GDGC across Frederick County, Virginia."

"The proposed MARL double circuit begins at FirstEnergy's Fort Martin power station in Morgantown, WV. The new 500kV circuit will be added to MARL's proposed towers so that MARL would consist of TWO 500kV transmission lines, possibly hanging from the same new tower. This includes the entire portion of MARL from a point in Mon County to the place in Frederick County, Virginia where the MARL project ends and the Gore-Doubs-Goose Creek project begins.  It would impact Mon, Preston, Garrett, Allegany, Mineral and Hampshire Counties.  The proposer says it will use "existing right-of-way" but that right-of-way doesn't actually exist yet and will only exist if MARL is approved and built. "

"Once this new double circuit 500kV line gets to the demarcation point between MARL and GDGC in Frederick County, Virginia, it proposes to run on a new 200 foot right of way for 17 miles across Frederick County until it reaches the proposed Woodside substation owned by NextEra. They can't simply continue the double circuit on the same new towers when they get to Frederick County because that is the point where the Gore-Doubs-Goose Creek line is already planned to be constructed as a double circuit with the existing 138kV line.  The second 500kV circuit would need a whole new right-of-way parallel to the existing configuration.  And don't forget that Valley Link is coming along behind it and creating its own new 200 ft. right-of-way.  Frederick County is looking at not only the new 185 ft. tower for the first 500kV circuit, but the addition of two new lines on parallel rights-of-way that would add 400 feet to the existing 250 foot wide corridor.  Total if this is selected and completed:  650 feet wide right-of-way with three 500 kV lines, one 138kV line, and one 765kV"

First Energy is  naming the segment of the Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link (MARL) that they propose to  build from the Potomac River through Frederick County and Montgomery County Maryland the "Gore-Doubs-Goose Creek" 500kV transmission line.  Word has it that the segment  from Frederick County, Virginia, through Jefferson County, West Virginia and Loudoun County, Virginia and on across the Potomac will also be named the "Gore-Doubs-Goose Creek" 500kV transmission line.  

First Energy has not scheduled or held any open houses in either Frederick or Loudoun Counties in Virginia or  in Jefferson County, West Virginia.  There was one and only one First Energy one open house  in Maryland held in Frederick County,  Maryland.  When questioned about when they would be holding open houses in Virginia and West Virginia they would not divulge a date or how many open houses they would be holding.  Property owners in Virginia and West Virginia are being intentionally kept in the dark .

A fact sheet from the Maryland open house stated "While the project is mainly using existing rights-of-way, there are “some limited areas” where the rights-of-way will have to be expanded to accommodate new transmission structures".

 In a stunning display of cognitive dissonance the Loudoun County BOS has proposed to lower the property tax on data centers and data center personal property tax in particular. Lowering the data center tax rate is a "core element" of their financial plan. 

 The Loudoun County BOS' justification for lowering the rate is to "rein in the growth of government".  They are pointing to the reduced rate for real estate taxes (you know the one where they lowered the tax rate and increased the land assessments that resulted in a larger overall tax bill than last year bill) and the pathetic decrease in personal property taxes on cars (that tax rate was reduced $.38 to $3.09 personal per $100 of the car's valuation.) If your car is worth between $5,000 and $10,000 that is a $14 to $28 annual savings in the "amount you lease the car you paid for" from the county. The county had a $280M surplus that could have been refunded to Loudoun County tax payers, but wasn't.

 At the same the same time Loudoun County has appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court to push for under- grounding @3 miles of the Aspen-Golden 500kV line which would cost rate payers in the Dominion Zone an additional $480 million. Meanwhile western Loudoun is facing the loss of 365 acres of private property to host an additional 500kV plus a 765kV transmission line. 

How about we charge the data centers more in taxes and impact fees to cover the destruction and loss of quality of life the infrastructure is causing?  The data centers must PAY to underground the transmission lines (either HVAC or HVDC whichever is appropriate) being proposed to support their energy demands.

See Loudoun Now: Vol 10, No.36 July 17, 2025article "Rebalance: County Eyes Lower Data Center Taxes"

See Also Loudoun Now: July 10, 2025 "County Staff to Push for Lower Data Center Taxes to Balance Revenues" 

And NetChoice: "Jaw-Dropping Numbers: Loudoun's Data Center Tax Revenue Could Top Real Estate Taxes In Just a Few Years"

In other data center news apparently PJM called upon Loudoun Counties data centers to run on their own backup generators to provide relief for the grid. Did you know there are 4000 backup generators in Loudoun County supporting the data centers?

See Loudoun Now: Vol 10, No.36 July 17, 2025article "Generator Use Jumps In Heat Wave; Turner pushes for Tier 4 Upgrades"