PWC Supervisors Delay Vote On Contentious New Power Station Amid Local Opposition: Report

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA – Prince William County’s Board of Supervisors has delayed a vote on a controversial new electrical substation that would be used to power some of the county’s data centers, according to a new report.

The Prince William Times reports that county supervisors voted on June 23 to defer their decision on the project’s special use permit until September.

The substation, which utility supplier Dominion Energy would build near homes along Vint Hill Road near Nokesville, is intended to supply data centers with power and avoid overtaxing the grid in western Prince William County.

Community groups are strongly opposed to the new station, in part because it would have to use a potent gas, sulfur hexafluoride, to insulate power lines, and would require the construction of two large buildings to house electrical lines and equipment.

In their vote, supervisors chastised Dominion Energy for providing unsatisfactory answers about their choice of location for the new substation and the necessity of using a gas that is being phased out in other parts of the country.

See more from The Prince William Times here.

See more about the fight over data centers in Prince William County here.

See more about planned data centers here.