A $1 billion power line proposal tied to Virginia's booming data center industry is drawing fierce backlash from rural residents who are being asked to give up farms, forests, and family land for electricity they will not directly benefit from.
Those concerns took center stage at a Board of Supervisors meeting with Dominion Energy on May 19.
According to 7News, Valley Link, partly owned by Dominion Energy, is proposing a 765-kilovolt transmission line running from Lynchburg to Culpeper County, along with an 88-acre substation in Culpeper.
The project would affect nine counties: Orange, Louisa, Goochland, Fluvanna, Buckingham, Appomattox, Campbell, Culpeper, and possibly western Spotsylvania.
The size of the proposal is difficult to ignore. At 765 kV, it would be the most powerful transmission line in the country, and its towers would stand roughly 135 to 165 feet tall.
Dominion said the infrastructure is needed to strengthen Virginia's grid and move electricity toward Northern Virginia, where data centers in Loudoun, Fairfax, and Prince William counties consume enormous amounts of power.
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For many residents, that explanation has only intensified frustration. Several people interviewed by 7News argued that if data center growth in Northern Virginia is driving demand, utilities and local leaders should be finding ways to generate that electricity closer to those facilities rather than shifting the burden onto rural communities.
Dominion told 7News that the project is still in its early stages, that more detailed routes are expected later this month, and one county is no longer part of the study area.
Residents said the project could lower property values, limit future farm expansion, clear large stretches of trees, and permanently alter land that has been in their families for generations.
Some homeowners told 7News that the proposed routes would cut through front yards, backyards, driveways, and farmland. Others said their children now play in woods and creeks that could become transmission corridors.
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For farmers, the uncertainty is already disrupting long-term plans for barns, pasture, turkey houses, and inherited property.
Some said it felt deeply unfair that central Virginia communities would take on the disruption while Northern Virginia reaps the economic benefits of data center development.
Spotsylvania County leaders have already formally objected to a related proposed route, saying it would damage farmland, forests, and the historic character of the area.
Residents in several affected counties are also looking to the State Corporation Commission, which will play a major role in determining whether the project moves forward.
Dominion said it has heard the criticism and is revising the maps. The company suggested updated routes are being refined based on community feedback and, in many cases, will be farther from homes. It also said building new generation near the data centers is difficult because of limited available land.
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