Dominion wanted railroad route for Haymarket power line, warned county not to accept land grant

HAYMARKET — Residents who will be impacted by the construction of new overhead power line are calling out Dominion Energy, saying the company will run the line through a historically black neighborhood once occupied by freed slaves.

The Virginia State Corporation Commission in June approved the Carver Road route for a 230kV power line that will run from the intersection of Interstate 66 and Prince William Parkway to a new substation just outside Haymarket on Route 15. There are about 75 properites and homes in the area first owned by African Americans following the end of slavery.

The new line will be used to support the power needs for a series of three new data centers that will be owned by Amazon, Inc. Construction of the first of three centers, next to the power substation, is nearly complete.

“A few weeks ago, Dominion Power changed its name, but it didn’t change its ways. It’s still a corporate bully,” said Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman, At-large Corey Stewart.

Stewart led a press conference outside the county government center on Tuesday. Residents of the Carver Road neighborhood told reporters that the power line would run through their historic properties.

“Taking homes from people who have lived there for 150 years is immoral,” said EJ Scott, of the Prince William Chapter of the NAACP.

The Carver Road route was one of the multiple route options Dominion submitted to the State Corporation Commission for consideration. Other options included a hybrid line that would have seen half of the new power line be built overhead while and a second portion of the line buried.

Another route would have taken the new power line along an existing railroad line that runs through Haymarket.

A statement from Dominion spokesman Charles Penn:

The residents of Carver Road should look no further than Corey Stewart and the Prince William County Board of Supervisors for the reason why the State Corporation Commission selected their community to build this project. The Railroad Route was the least impactful route; a route that would have resulted in some trees being removed. Yet overhead power lines still would have been hidden from view.

In November 2014, while the [Prince William County Board of County Supervisors] were deliberating over whether to accept the easement from Somerset HOA, we met with them, and we informed them that should they accept the easement, thereby blocking the Railroad Route from consideration, subsequent routing options may be much more impactful for the community. And now, the Carver Road community is feeling that impact.

It was disappointing then, and it’s disappointing now that the County continues to block the route that both the SCC and Dominion engineers determined has the least impact. In essence, Mr. Stewart and the supervisors chose trees over the people who reside on Carver Road. Carver Road is under consideration because of the actions of the [Prince William County Board of County Supervisors].

The hybrid line was slated to cost $162 million, about $100 million more to build than an overhead line, and was quickly dismissed by the State Corporation Commission. However, the hybrid route is still the favored route among residents and politicians.

After Dominion had filed its petition to build its power line, Prince William County in December 2014 accepted 52 acres of land from the Somerset Crossing HOA, a neighborhood in Haymarket. The land, next to the same railroad track where Dominion wanted to run its power line, became a protected conservation and recreation easement.

The moved forced Dominion to seek approval from the county to build on the land. In June, the SCC gave Dominion 60 days to convince Prince William County leaders to allow Dominion to build its power line on the protected easement, but when no deal was reached, Dominion planned to move ahead with its Carver Road route plans.

As opposition to the Carver Road route grows, the SCC has ordered the power line effort paused while the agency once again reviews the plans for the project.

New information under review by county officials shows the new power line is not needed until the third of three data centers are built. It’s unclear when or if the third data center will be built.

Elected officials said this goes against years of Dominion telling area residents the power line is needed to serve a growing population in western Prince William County.

“We’re going to nail these people,” said Delegate Bob Marshall (Prince William, Manassas Park).