The Fauquier County Planning Commission voted on Oct. 16 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors deny special exception SPEX-25024701, an application by Dominion Energy to expand the Morrisville substation in the Lee District.

The recommendation follows a public hearing that included presentations from county staff, Dominion representatives and several residents who urged denial, citing the county’s comprehensive plan, proximity to Mary Walter Elementary School and concern about wider regional transmission projects that could use the expanded facility.

County staff described the application as a Category 20 special exception to expand the existing Morrisville substation by about three acres adjacent to the existing roughly 10-acre facility off Shipstore Road in the village of Morrisville. Staff said the expansion would accommodate upgrades to 230 kV and 500 kV terminal equipment and the termination of new transmission lines that are part of the larger Morrisville–Wishing Star project. The project was described as needed to maintain reliability under NERC reliability standards and PJM transmission planning criteria, and Dominion representatives said construction could begin in 2027.

Staff noted site details and mitigation measures in the application: a proposed 25-foot double-staggered row of evergreen plantings along the eastern property line (staff pointed out the zoning ordinance requires a 30-foot landscape buffer), 15-foot maximum planting heights where vegetation must remain beneath distribution and transmission lines, a 15-foot maintenance strip outside the substation fence, a portion of masonry retaining wall rising to 17.5 feet at its highest point, and a proposed 20-foot-tall mesh security fence dictated by security requirements. Staff also said they prepared an alternate set of conditions after the applicant explained the taller internal fence would conflict with equipment and safe operation.

Dominion representatives and their consultants answered technical questions from commissioners. Dominion said the current expansion is sized to accommodate one additional 230 kV line and one additional 500 kV line and that, under the present design, the site would not have space for additional high-voltage circuits without further expansion or a new substation. Dominion staff and consultants described limits on undergrounding the proposed 38-mile transmission corridor (the Morrisville–Wishing Star project), citing permitting constraints for open-cut crossings of major roadways such as Interstate 66, larger environmental disturbance from the wider excavation footprint that would be required for a 500 kV underground line, and longer outage and maintenance times for underground high-voltage lines.

Local residents and community groups urged denial. Mike Fultz and representatives of Protect Fauquier and Citizens for Fauquier County raised concerns about transparency over regional transmission proposals, the potential that the expansion would serve data-center-driven transmission demand originating elsewhere in Northern Virginia, and public-health and safety questions because of the substation’s proximity to Mary Walter Elementary School. Speakers noted the county comprehensive plan’s goals to preserve rural lands and minimize visual and other impacts on villages such as Morrisville.

During the commission’s deliberation, a motion to send the application to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation of approval failed for lack of a second. A subsequent motion to forward SPEX-25024701 with a recommendation of disapproval was moved and seconded and carried; the commission chair then closed the public hearing and moved on to other agenda items. The transcript does not record an exact roll-call tally for that recommendation in the hearing record.

The Board of Supervisors will receive the Planning Commission’s recommendation and will take the final action on the special-exception application. The county staff report and the applicant’s supplemental materials, including the alternate conditions and the visual cross sections presented at the hearing, were placed into the meeting file for the Board’s review.

Questions commissioners pressed during the hearing included: whether the substation could accommodate more lines in the future without another application, the technical differences between accommodating 230 kV and 500 kV equipment, the feasibility and permitting challenges for undergrounding the cited long-distance transmission lines, and the extent to which county planning goals and the utilities’ regional obligations can be reconciled.

Dominion and county staff said additional filings to state and regional regulatory bodies (including an SCC filing referenced by Dominion) will include further technical detail and justification for the selected route and construction methods. Residents asked the county to withhold action until more of that regional planning information — including PJM shortlist results for proposed projects — is publicly clarified. The Board of Supervisors will consider the Planning Commission’s recommendation at a future meeting.