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Boards clear route for Keydet Solar South to bury roughly 28,000 feet of medium-voltage line amid resident concerns
Summary
Charles City County boards recommended approval for Blue Ridge Power to install about 28,000 linear feet of underground medium-voltage lines for the Keydet Solar South project with E&S and inspection requirements; residents raised dust and contamination concerns, and AES said lines will be in conduit and decommissioned after ~30 years.
Charles City County planning staff and both preservation boards on Oct. 7 recommended approval for Blue Ridge Power to install approximately 28,000 linear feet of underground medium-voltage lines through wetlands and resource protection areas to connect solar arrays to transformers for the Keydet Solar South project.
Sheri Adams told the board the work would cross perennial streams including East Run, Salem Run and West Run and would be subject to the County’s Combined Water Protection Ordinance. Staff recommended approval with conditions: a building permit, a licensed site plan showing landscaping and erosion-and-sediment (E&S) controls, native-species plantings, a pre-construction meeting with the CBPA inspector, temporary and permanent soil stabilization measures consistent with the Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Law and Regulations, and a $1,000 surety for the project and E&S measures.
During the Wetlands hearing, residents Charles and Savannah Pacheco raised concerns that parts of the line run behind their home and questioned risks from placing medium-voltage cable under wetland or marsh areas. Charles Pacheco also asked about protections when the line is removed at decommissioning. Resident Lloyd Carter raised complaints about dust and mud from construction on Salem Run/Cattail Road and said a current Special Use Permit on file allows infrastructure deeper than 36 inches to remain at decommissioning.
Madeleine Ray of AES, representing Blue Ridge Power, responded that the lines would be placed in conduit and that precautions and emergency procedures would be followed to protect people, wildlife and vegetation. Adams said stormwater would be monitored by the Department of Environmental Quality and the County would inspect periodically and follow up on complaints. Staff also reported a $2.3 million surety for decommissioning the solar panels for the project.
Both the Wetlands Board and the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Board voted 4–0 to recommend approval of the underground-line applications (WB-03-2024 and CBPA-04-2024) with the staff conditions described above.
