ASHBURN, VA – The Loudoun Valley Estates Homeowners Association and the Loudoun County Public Schools have both formally filed appeals to the Virginia Supreme Court to overturn the state utility regulator's decision on a power line route through the county. The groups announced their intention to appeal in July.
The exact route of the 6.5-mile Golden to Mars transmission line through the county has been debated for more than a year. Various proposed routes would impact private homes, community parks and school grounds, and community members, the county government and the Loudoun County School Board have objected to different options over concerns about public health, environmental protection, student safety, property values, quality of life and other issues.
The State Corporation Commission, which regulates Virginia utilities, has received a volume of comment and testimony, as well as multiple appeals, on the case.
The government, school board and homeowners' association attempted to delay the project, in particular after a change in state law directed pilot projects undergrounding utility lines to be launched.
The regulator, however, eventually sided with Dominion Energy in ordering the controversial project to move forward.
Several overland routes were proposed for the string of roughly 165-foot monopoles, with options running through school property and through private property, particularly in the Loudoun Valley Estates community.
Many affected homeowners were immediately incensed, particularly as the transmission lines are perceived as primarily serving data centers.
The SCC at long last declared that it preferred the shortest of the final route options, Route 4. That route would require an easement from the Loudoun County School Board because it would run along property belonging to a public elementary school and high school. LCPS has consistently refused to grant the easement.
With Route 4 blocked by the school board, the SCC indicated that the "clearly inferior" Route 3a would be its ultimate choice. Nearly 200 homes are within 500 feet of power lines on that proposed route, according to the Piedmont Environmental Council.
In a last-ditch effort to block the route, the Loudoun Valley Homeowners Association donated to the school board a chunk of private land that Route 3a would have used. The board accepted the donation, but the change was not acknowledged by the SCC in its final order approving Route 3a days later.
Both groups subsequently asked the SCC to reconsider.
LCPS submitted two filings in its SCC appeal, one pointing out that LCPS now owns land the transmission line's proposed route would traverse, the other arguing that the SCC relied too much on Dominion's preferred schedule in dismissing public calls for more study of undergrounding the lines.
The Loudoun Valley Estates Homeowners Association filing referenced a new Virginia law enacted in the spring, allowing for four pilot projects to build 500-kilovolt electrical transmission lines underground and authorizing the SCC to approve and expedite the review of such applications. It says the Golden to Mars project could qualify for such a program and calls on the SCC to reconsider in that light, as well as on other grounds.
The SCC apparently never revisited the case.
The school board and homeowners' association filed their appeals on Monday, according to Virginia public records.
According to reporting by Loudoun Now, the school board and the homeowners' association's petitions raise a variety of arguments, in particular challenging the SCC's reliance on Dominion's timeline, its dismissal of underground or alternative routes and more. The outlet reports that the Loudoun County government has also filed an appeal, which also challenges Dominion's sense of urgency, as the demand it is required to fill remains a projection.
Loudoun County recently voted to pause all new data center applications, advancing a proposal that is to have a final vote later this fall.
All parties have 50 days to file their opening briefs to the State Supreme Court.
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