Dominion Virginia Power is committed to providing reliable electricity for its customers, which sometimes requires the upgrade of electric facilities. To meet area demand, Dominion plans to upgrade an existing 115kV (kilovolt) transmission line extending approximately 8-miles through Fairfax County and Prince William County.
Over the last decade, Prince William County has grown by 43.2% – the second highest growth by County in Virginia; with a more than 100,000 person increase in Fairfax County within the same time period. By 2013, forecasted demand could jeopardize the mandatory reliability standards that Dominion is required to meet as set by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).
The overhead line project will utilize the existing right-of-way corridor, and begins at the Ox Substation in Fairfax County, continuing approximately 1.5 miles south, crossing the Occoquan River into Prince William County. From this point, the line heads southward for approximately 2 miles before angling westward for approximately 3.2 miles towards the Minnieville Substation (see map).
View a presentation to learn more about the need for this project.
The project will replace approximately 1.5 miles of the transmission line from the Occoquan River north to Ox Substation, just off Roseland Drive.
New steel monopoles will replace the existing wooden H-frame structures in the center of the existing right-of-way (see structure rendering). While the new structures will be taller, they will be complimentary in height to the towers on either side – creating matching width spans and reducing the visual impact along the corridor.
This section of the transmission line was built in 1948 and is situated between two other lines – a double circuit 230kV and a 500 kV transmission line.
Over the last decade, Prince William County has experienced a 43.2% increase in population – the second highest growth by county in Virginia. This project will support projected growth in this immediate area.
Rebuild
The north to south running portion of the line will be approximately 2.06 miles from the Occoquan River to a point just north of Omiscol Rd (and south of Lake Omiscol) – the “Minnieville Junction”.
New steel monopoles will replace the existing wooden H-frame structures in the center of the existing right-of-way (see structure rendering). While the new structures will be taller, they will be complimentary in height to the towers on either side – creating matching width spans and reducing the visual impact along the corridor.
Additional Work
The westerly/southwesterly portion of the line runs from the above described “Minnieville Junction” approximately 3.2 miles to the Minnieville substation delivery point. This section of the line will utilize existing structures to pull in new conductor. Repairs to the existing structures will be made as necessary upon inspection. Three of the existing structures will be replaced entirely.
This portion of the line was constructed in 1964 and shares the right-of-way with a 500kV line.
Between 2000 – 2010, the population in Prince William County has grown by 43.2% – the second highest growth by County in Virginia. In Fairfax County, there has been an 11.5% growth in population. Projections indicate loading levels that will require some new facilities and upgrades to alleviate the potential of equipment failure and extended outages.
With the addition of this new line, the community area will benefit from increased reliability in support of growing capacity and economic development in the region.
Contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Ox-Minnieville Line Project.
This rebuild project will utilize the existing 300-foot right-of way corridor along the entire length of the project.
The rebuilt line decreases the likelihood of outages, and potentially shortens outage durations, should they occur, to area residents. In addition, the new steel monopole structures have the capacity to be upgraded to 230kV capacity with minimal community disturbance, if future need is identified.
The new towers are steel monopole structures which are approximately 50-feet taller than the existing H-frame structures, however do not exceed the height of existing towers currently in the right-of-way (see structure rendering).
As part of our regulatory applications, Dominion completes an evaluation of potential environmental, cultural, and historical impacts of the 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 for the construction and maintenance of transmission lines to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation for review and approval. This project will be submitted 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.
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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