Dominion Energy proposes Morrisville–Wishing Star 500 kV line; company favors rebuilding existing corridor, says undergrounding impractical

Dominion Energy presented a conceptual plan for a 36.5-mile transmission project that would add a double-circuit 500 kilovolt line and a 2x230 kV circuit from the Morrisville substation (Fauquier) north to the Wishing Star substation (Loudoun). The company told the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors it prefers to rebuild and widen existing transmission corridors where possible and to use monopole structures to minimize footprint where expansion is needed.

Porlin (Portland) Cunningham, a Dominion transmission communications lead, said the project is driven by rising and concentrated load growth in Northern Virginia — notably the region’s data center market — and by the need to maintain transmission reliability. Dominion’s routing team, led in the presentation by Tracy McDonald, showed a preferred line that largely remains in existing corridors through Fauquier and Prince William counties, and several alternates that would require new corridor segments and additional property impacts. The company plans public open houses and an online map tool for residents to comment on route options.

Dominion described technical and environmental constraints. Where the corridor already has multiple circuits, Dominion said it would seek a modest eastward expansion of roughly 65 feet in discrete segments; where a hazardous facility exists — for example, a natural-gas installation identified along the proposed line — the company showed a short detour into a new corridor that rejoins the existing right of way. Tracy McDonald walked supervisors through alternates that would bypass conservation easements and wetlands; those options, she said, generally increase overall impacts because they add new corridor acreage and new engineering transitions. “We always look to co-locate,” McDonald said during the routing walkthrough.

Board members pressed the company on compensation, visual impacts and whether undergrounding was feasible. Dominion responded that undergrounding a 500 kV line would create far greater construction disturbance and would require a very wide temporary and permanent right of way in many places; the company noted only one U.S. precedent for a 500 kV underground segment (Southern California) and called underground construction “impractical” for this corridor. Dominion’s presenters acknowledged landowners can negotiate easement terms with the company; if negotiations fail, the presenters said condemnation remains a legal option. Dominion announced a series of public open houses — the Fauquier session is scheduled for May 13 at Mary Walter Elementary School — and said the company will publish maps and route alternatives online.