Public Hearing On Edsall Road Substation Postponed As Opposition Grows

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA – A public hearing on the proposed Edsall Road substation scheduled for Sept. 24 has been pushed back to Dec. 2, according to a community group opposed to the project.

The Save Bren Mar Coalition reports that Dominion Energy requested that the public hearing on the Edsall substation be deferred. The group called the move “transparently a stall tactic meant to quiet public outcry.” Dominion Energy says it needs the time to submit additional material on the substation.

The substation would support a data center planned for the Plaza 500 site off Edsall Road, near the Bren Mar Park neighborhood. The data center is a project of Starwood Digital Ventures, which filed a building permit application and plans for the first of two data center buildings in July.

The data center can be constructed by-right on the site, but the required substation will need county approval. Virginia law requires public facilities, including electrical substations, to have a public hearing and review to determine their compatibility with area guidelines established in Fairfax County’s Comprehensive Plan. The process is known as a Public Facilities 2232 Review, and the decision on that review was to be published at the county Planning Commission meeting on Sept. 24.

Groups like the Save Bren Mar Coalition have been fighting the planned data center and substation for several years now. They say that the data center and planned substation would be, in some cases, within less than 100 feet of residential property, far closer than any other data center allowed by the county, and extremely disruptive to the neighborhood.

Save Bren Mar has been joined recently by Congressman Don Beyer, who represents Virginia’s eighth district, the government of Alexandria City and other officials and community groups in calling on Fairfax County to reject the substation application.

In a statement to Patch, a representative from Starwood Digital Ventures said, “SDV has been investing in Fairfax County since 2019. We remain committed to this project and to our neighbors here in the community. The planned redevelopment of the Plaza 500 site is an essential opportunity for Fairfax County to replace what was once an active, industrial site with a less obtrusive investment that secures the County’s future and enables its growth. SDV is continuing to work closely with Dominion Energy and Fairfax County to ensure plans for the Edsall Road substation, a public good subsidized by SDV, are community-conscious and low-impact.”