On February 16, 2012, the Virginia State Corporation Commission filed its Procedural Order for the Dahlgren Transmission Line Project, which includes a public hearing scheduled for June 12, 2012. On October 26, 2011, Dominion filed an application with the SCC for authorization to build a new 230kV transmission line and substation to serve King George.
Dominion Virginia Power is committed to providing customers with safe, affordable and reliable electrical service. This sometimes requires the addition of new facilities.
Dominion received notification from the Naval Support Facility (NSF) Dahlgren regarding plans to expand its facilities in King George County. Based on these projections and increasing demand in the surrounding community, Dominion determined that the expected electrical load would exceed the capacity of its distribution system, and will require the construction of a new transmission line (known as the proposed Dahlgren Project) from an existing 230 kV transmission line located near Route 3, along new right-of-way within King George County to NSF Dahlgren.
Hard copies of these maps are also available at the King George Planning Office and at the L.E. Smoot Memorial Library (temporary location at 8562 Dahlgren Road). The SCC will make the final determination of the route location.
Dominion proposes to build and operate a new 230kV overhead double-circuit transmission line from a point (Dahlgren Junction) on Dominion’s existing 230kV Birchwood–Northern Neck Line to a proposed new Dahlgren Substation at Naval Support Facility (NSF) Dahlgren. The existing line will be tapped at Dahlgren Junction to construct a new line that will "loop in and out" of Dahlgren Substation. A 230kV circuit breaker will be installed at Dahlgren Substation to split the existing line, thereby creating two 230kV circuits between Birchwood and Northern Neck: the Birchwood–Dahlgren line and the Dahlgren-Northern Neck line.
The proposed new 230kV circuits will be installed on double-circuit, single shaft steel poles and will be built entirely within new right-of-way. The Proposed Route of the new line, as well as an Alternate Route can be viewed above, under Route Maps.
Dominion intends to work with property owners to acquire right-of-way (120’ wide) from the existing line to the designated substation location on the base along the route determined by the SCC.
The State Corporation Commission (SCC) is responsible for determining the need, route and environmental impact of transmission lines at 138 kV and above in Virginia.
Dominion filed an application with the SCC on October 26, 2011. On February 16, 2012, the Virginia State Corporation Commission filed its Procedural Order for the Dahlgren Transmission Line Project. Documents related to the case are made available to the public on the SCC Docket Search section of the SCC web site. In addition, interested parties may also comment directly to the SCC by sending an email to sccinfo@scc.virginia.gov.
To learn more about this process, view our SCC process map.
Dominion was committed to consulting with stakeholders and the public during the route development process and began the process of developing an outreach program in spring 2011. Because the project would be located on new right-of-way, Dominion decided to go beyond traditional outreach and hired Natural Resource Group, environmental and public affairs consultants to the energy industry, to help develop and facilitate a comprehensive Community Engagement Plan.
The goal of the Community Engagement Plan was to aid Dominion in the identification of viable route options for assessment and inclusion in the project application by obtaining input from stakeholders and the public through open, transparent and comprehensive outreach during the route development process. The Community Engagement Plan consisted of three public outreach methods:
The full schedule of activities, resources and presentations can be found below.
| Timing | Event |
| May 3, 2011 | Project Presentation to the King George Board of Supervisors > View the Presentation |
| May 6 | Media: Fredericksburg Freelance Star announces Dominion project |
| June 10 | Media: Blog invites residents to join Community Input Group |
| June 22 | First Meeting of the Community Input Group > Read the Meeting Summary |
| July 13 | Presentation for NSF Dahlgren |
| July 22 | Open House Invitation Letters mailed to approximately 1,100 residents with a copy of the newspaper ad |
| July 27 – Aug. 10 | Newspaper ads run in Fredericksburg Freelance Star and King George Journal |
| August 1 | Media: Blog announces Open House Aug. 10 |
| August 8 | Media: Blog announces route maps available online |
| August 9 | Community Input Group Refresher Meeting (Optional) (> Read the Meeting Summary) |
| August 10 | Media: King George Journal: announces Open House; routes available |
| August 10 | OPEN HOUSE: Review Process, Share Route and Structure Options, Gather Community Feedback |
| August 11 | Media: Fredericksburg Freelance Star: 200 Attended Open House |
| August 11 | Media: Blog recaps Open House |
| August 16 | Media: Blog announces second public meeting |
| August 17 | Media: Blog confirms open meeting Aug. 18 |
| August 18 | Final Community Input Group (CIG) Meeting; additional public meeting. (> View CIG Meeting Summary) |
| Sept. 12 | King George Chamber of Commerce Presentation |
| Late October | Dominion Files Application with SCC |
| November 1 | Dominion summarizes the project and SCC process for the King George Board of Supervisors (View the presentation with updated timeline) |
Contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Dahlgren Project.
Yes. Prior to building transmission lines requiring new right-of-way, Dominion acquires perpetual rights from the owners of properties along the approved route to construct, operate and maintain electric lines across private land. An easement is obtained by Dominion from the property owner in the form of Dominion’s standard right-of-way agreement and the document is recorded in the land records of the County or City where the property is located.
Yes, the property owner still owns the land. Easement agreements provide Dominion with a specified set of rights needed to construct, operate and maintain electric facilities across private land.
Dominion uses an appraiser to determine the fair market value of the land and the just compensation to which property owners are entitled for the property rights sought by Dominion. The appraisals are then used as the basis for the offers that Dominion makes to the property owners. Property owners will be requested to respond to the offer in a specified number of days.
Property owners will be notified before construction clearing begins.
Prior to building a new power line, the right-of-way must be cleared to allow construction activities and eventual transmission line operation that is safe and reliable. Existing low-growing vegetation may be left in place if it does not interfere with construction activities. Additionally, trees located outside of the right-of-way which are tall enough to potentially impact the transmission line may also be removed. These trees are commonly referred as danger trees; view a diagram of typical danger tree clearances.
Trees are cut to be no more than 3 inches above ground level. Debris that is adjacent to homes will be disposed of by chipping or removal. In other areas, debris may be mulched or chipped as practicable. Clearing will be accomplished by hand in wetland areas and within 100 feet of streams. Care will be taken not to leave debris in streams or wetland areas. Matting will be used for heavy equipment in these areas. Erosion control devices will be used on an ongoing basis during all clearing activities.
Routing a linear facility such as a transmission line involves balancing many considerations. Dominion and NRG conducted a rigorous routing process and established several criteria to facilitate a quantitative comparison among the potential routes identified. The evaluation included a quantitative analysis based on these routing criteria as well as consideration of more subjective or qualitative factors gleaned from site visits and discussions with property owners and other key stakeholders.
Dominion and NRG compared these five routes using 17 categories of routing criteria that included land use, environmental, cultural resource, visual impact, and engineering constraints as well as routing opportunities. Based on these criteria, as well the public input, Dominion selected Route C as the Proposed Route and Route B as the Alternate Route and eliminated further consideration of Routes A, D and H.
Route C was selected as the Proposed Route because it strikes the best overall balance of all of the potential routes in terms of minimizing a range of environmental impacts and taking advantage of the limited routing opportunities. The Proposed Route realizes the benefits of a predominantly rural route in that it avoids heavily populated or traveled areas, is not within 100 feet of any residences, and is within 500 feet of fewer residences (62) than most of the other routes. As such, the Proposed Route minimizes direct and visual impacts on residents and visitors. At the same time, the Proposed Route results in fewer impacts on environmental resources (e.g., forested wetlands, Resource Protection Area (RPA) land) than many of the other routes considered, and takes advantage of a routing opportunity by paralleling Berry Wharf Road and an existing distribution line for approximately 0.6 mile. The Proposed Route avoids Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)-designated conservation sites (except for the Dahlgren Substation site, which would be equally affected by any route) and, subject to further consultation with the DCR and Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, is not expected to adversely affect sensitive or protected resources. While two bald eagle nests are located within a quarter mile of the route, they both appear to be outside of the primary management buffer specified by the Bald Eagle Protection Guidelines for Virginia. The most notable disadvantage of the Proposed Route is that it is within a half mile of 16 architectural and historic sites and crosses an archaeological site that has not been evaluated for eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. However, Dominion will consult with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to identify how impacts on these resources can be avoided or mitigated.
The Alternate Route has many of the same advantages as those described for the Proposed Route. Like the Proposed Route, the Alternate Route is a predominantly rural route that would affect fewer private parcels than the other routes considered. The Alternate Route centerline is within 500 feet of only 53 residences, and it is not within 100 feet of any residences. Because the Alternate Route roughly parallels Upper Machodoc Creek for much of its length along the southern portion of the route, it crosses more perennial streams (meanders of Upper Machodoc Creek) and affects more wetlands than the Proposed Route. The Alternate Route is on the same alignment as the Proposed Route where it is collocated with Berry Wharf Road and the existing distribution line, as well as where it crosses the archaeological site referenced above for the Proposed Route. The Alternate Route crosses slightly more RPA land than the Proposed Route, but is on the same alignment as the Proposed Route in the vicinity of the bald eagle nests. In general, the Alternate Route is fairly similar to the Proposed Route with respect to its overall character and potential impacts on the human environment. However, the Proposed Route has the advantage of resulting in slightly fewer impacts on the natural environment, which is why it was selected as the Alternate Route over Route B.
Approximately one third of the customers served by the existing transmission line (that runs parallel to Rt. 3) are Northern Neck Electric Cooperative customers. Due to the interconnected nature of the electric transmission grid, all Northern Neck Electric Cooperative customers rely on Dominion's transmission infrastructure to deliver reliable power.
Overhead lines have proven to be the best choice for providing safe, reliable and economical energy to our customers. Underground transmission lines are not as desirable from an operational point of view. The duration of outages for underground transmission lines is significantly greater compared to overhead lines due to the complexities of locating failures and facilitating repairs. Additionally, labor and material costs for the installation of a 230 kV underground transmission line would be 6 to 10 times more expensive than an overhead option.
Dominion operates a high-voltage network of approximately 6,100 miles of transmission lines. Of this total, only about 1% (67 miles) is comprised of underground cables. At 230 kilovolts, such as the proposed line, there are approximately 2,600 miles of overhead lines and 44 miles of underground cables in our service area. These underground installations are primarily for large water crossings, dense metro areas, or other areas that are not suitable for overhead lines.
The Virginia State Corporation Commission may issue dates for a public hearing, in the King George area, with an evidentiary hearing in Richmond thereafter. Citizens are encouraged to participate in the process and provide input. The SCC maintains copies of all documents related to the case. Updates about the status of the application can be found on the SCC website at www.scc.virginia.gov.
To learn more about this process, view our SCC process map.
Yes. The company, at its expense, will repair any private roads damaged by Dominion or its contractors during construction of the line or during future maintenance. In addition, we will reimburse property owners for crop damage and repair or replace fences or gates if they are damaged.
As part of the SCC application, Dominion completes an evaluation of potential environmental, cultural, and historical impacts of the Dahlgren Project. Dominion works with many local and state agencies to complete these evaluations and mitigate any impacts. The company also submits annual Erosion and Sedimentation (E&S) Control Specifications and an anticipated list of transmission line projects for the construction and maintenance of transmission lines to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation for review and approval. For program year 2012, this project will be included in the annual submittal for approval prior to construction. Our contractors receive copies of the E&S specifications and any additional permit conditions prior to construction and are directed to meet any requirements. The right-of-way will be rehabilitated when construction is complete.
Our enterprise-wide environmental report describes our commitment to responsible stewardship of natural resources and provides a wealth of information on environmental management and performance. We also invite you to read our Corporate Environmental Policy and our Greenhouse Gas report.
Dominion is sensitive to public concern about possible health effects from exposure to electric and magnetic fields (EMF). We continually monitor EMF research and speak to our customers and employees regularly to share the latest information available.
The Virginia Department of Health, in its final report, "Monitoring of Ongoing Research of the Health Effects on High Voltage Transmission Lines," said:
"Based on the review and analysis of the exhaustive literature review and other research projects completed under the EMF-RAPID program, the Virginia Department of Health is of the opinion that there is no conclusive and convincing evidence that exposure to extremely low frequency EMF emanated from nearby high voltage transmission lines is causally associated with an increased incidence of cancer or other detrimental health effects in humans. Even if it is assumed that there is an increased risk of cancer as implied in some epidemiologic studies, the empirical relative risk appears to be fairly small in magnitude and the observed association appears to be tenuous. The studies published in the literature lack clear demonstration of a cause and effect relationship as well as a definitive dose-response gradient."
Additional information:
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