Fauquier supervisors approve 100‑megawatt Remington battery project, authorize siting agreement with Dominion

Fauquier County supervisors voted 4–1 on Sept. 11 to authorize a siting agreement with Virginia Electric and Power Company (Dominion) and approve a special exception for a proposed battery energy storage system near Remington.

County staff told the board the project would be a roughly 100‑megawatt facility with 174 individually enclosed battery units and associated infrastructure spread across about 72 acres, including approximately 17 acres for the new battery area. The presentation said the developer estimated just under $9,000,000 in revenue over a projected 20‑year life span, roughly $450,000 per year, and proposed voluntary capital payments and a site plan payment to the county.

The proposal includes multi‑layer safety systems, county staff said: thermal‑runaway testing of cells and modules, 25‑foot separations between enclosures, heat and smoke sensors, hydrogen or off‑gas detectors, thermal‑imaging cameras and continuous voltage, current and temperature monitoring. Staff and the county’s fire chief also conducted a site visit to an existing battery facility to review fire‑safety protocols.

During discussion supervisors pressed staff on two topics: clarity in the siting agreement’s payment language and local environmental risk. One supervisor said the county is “100% groundwater” and that even small seepage risks must be considered; another asked that contract language make the scope and basis of the proposed per‑megawatt payments explicit. County staff said an updated agreement had been circulated and that the board’s resolution authorized the county attorney to make any necessary or appropriate corrections before execution.

Speaker 21 (county staff) summarized the project: “The proposed system is a 100 megawatt facility with a 174 individual enclosures.” Board members speaking in favor said Dominion and staff provided information intended to mitigate risk; the lone dissenting vote cited groundwater and long‑term environmental concerns.

With the county attorney authorized to finalize contract language, the board voted 4–1 to approve the siting agreement and special exception. The resolution includes conditions to limit the use area to the plan shown to the board and requires applicable permits, landscaping, fencing and specified separation distances between enclosures.

Next steps: execution of the siting agreement (subject to county attorney finalization), required state and federal permitting by the applicant, and ongoing coordination with county fire and emergency services on safety and response planning.