Loudoun forwards electrical-infrastructure CPAM amid debate over undergrounding, preferred corridors

Loudoun County supervisors voted Jan. 14 to forward the Electrical Infrastructure Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPAM 2024-5) to the board's February business meeting after a lengthy briefing and public comment period that included sharp disagreements over whether the county should identify preferred corridors and how strongly it should push for undergrounding of high-voltage transmission lines.

Pat Giulio and staff from the Department of Planning and Zoning introduced the CPAM as a two-phase effort: Phase 1 would amend the 2019 General Plan text and include a map identifying existing and approved high-voltage transmission corridors as a feature of the plan; Phase 2 will scope longer-term routing work and susceptibility mapping. Staff and the consultant stressed that the county lacks formal siting authority (that authority sits with the State Corporation Commission and federal agencies) but that clearer policy guidance and a plan map could improve the county's influence during state and federal reviews.

Consultants and staff highlighted why the work is urgent: Loudoun remains a major data-center market and electrical demand projections tied to high-load users have grown markedly in recent years, driving a need for additional transmission capacity. Staff emphasized policy options including reconductoring, voltage conversion, co-location in existing corridors, undergrounding "where feasible," and use of grid-enhancing technologies to reduce the need for new corridors.

Public comment split. Emily Johnson, representing the Piedmont Environmental Council, urged stronger, more specific language to avoid siting that harms sensitive environmental resources and asked the county to visually differentiate existing underground segments on the map. Several residents and property owners in the Leavittsville/Western Loudoun area opposed designating any preferred corridors and urged full undergrounding of new lines; Amy Goodyear said the map would place a "target of diminished value" on properties and told the board she strongly opposes designating transmission corridors anywhere in Loudoun. Alfred Giorzi and others urged the county to insist that data centers and high-load users pay the full cost of undergrounding where possible.

Supervisors asked staff technical questions about whether Phase 2 would identify specific routes or simply susceptibility zones (staff said the work will produce susceptibility/zone-based mapping rather than pinpointed route lines), how many new substations might be needed (staff said that is covered in other workstreams), and whether policies should be tightened to avoid equivocal phrases like "when feasible." Several supervisors urged stronger statements favoring undergrounding near urban centers and clearer protections for rural lands and visual resources.

After comments, the board voted to forward the CPAM to the February business meeting for additional staff follow-up and Phase 2 scoping with stakeholders including Dominion Energy. The public hearing was closed and the meeting adjourned following a moment of silence for a recent pedestrian fatality in the Ashburn area.