SCC Denies Request To Suspend Golden-To-Mars Power Line Decision

ASHBURN, VA – Virginia’s utility regulator has denied a request to suspend its final order on the controversial Golden-to-Mars transmission line.

The State Corporation Commission, which oversees utilities in the state, on Friday denied a request by the Loudoun County government to suspend its final order on a route for the new transmission line, saying the commission had already “found that continued delay in this matter unreasonably jeopardizes the provision of reliable electric service within the Commonwealth.”

“The Commission hereby declines to delay this matter further by suspending the Final Order for the purpose of effectuating consideration of the Petitions and Motion,” it wrote.

The county had requested the suspension on Monday in order to continue negotiations with the Loudoun County School Board, suggesting that further discussion could help county authorities agree on an overland route for the new 230/500 kilovolt transmission line. However, the school board and a group of Ashburn homeowners had on Friday filed their own appeals to the SCC to reconsider its final order.

On Monday, homeowner Vicky Hu, whose property will be substantially affected by the power lines, also filed to be considered a party in the case.

What The SCC Ordered

The exact route of the new, roughly 6.5-mile route has been bitterly debated, and multiple routes have been assessed and rejected. The SCC ultimately decided the options came down to two routes: a relatively short Route 4, which would cross LCPS property, or a longer Route 3a, which avoids school property but cuts through more neighborhoods, affecting more than 180 homes, according to the Piedmont Environmental Council. Homeowners say a route that would include running 150-foot or taller poles through their neighborhoods and even backyards would destroy their quality of life, not to mention their property values.

The county school board has so far refused to grant easements that would allow the route to cross school property, and a local homeowners association has even transferred its land to the school board in an effort to block Route 3a.

However, that land swap wasn’t recognized by the SCC, which ultimately ordered that the line be built along what it called the “clearly inferior” Route 3a.

LCPS, Homeowners Request Decision Be Reconsidered

LCPS filed two requests on Friday. One filing is based on the fact that LCPS now owns land required by both Route 4 and Route 3a. The second argues, among other objections, that the SCC was over-reliant on Dominion’s preferred schedule when it dismissed calls for more study of undergrounding or targeted undergrounding of the lines.

The Loudoun Valley Estates Homeowners Association filing references 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.

Hu's filing to be recognized as a distinct party in the case does not make any specific requests regarding the SCC's decisions. However, it does raise another argument made by homeowners, that the Golden-to-Mars line will not supply power to the general public, but rather to the private data center industry, and that Virginia law doesn't allow private property to be taken to primarily benefit another private entity.

At one point, the county government, LCPS and Ashburn homeowners had all argued for burying all or some portion of the powerlines. LCPS and the homeowners group continue to push for that to be considered, saying that Dominion’s preferred schedule is overriding their concerns.

LCPS on Friday also indicated its intention to appeal its case to the Virginia Supreme Court.