Louisa is one of nine counties impacted by the Valley Link Transmission Line Project. On April 7 the Culpeper Board of Supervisors (BoS) announced their opposition to the Valley Link project, as well as a potential 100-acre substation in Richardsville, a historic village in eastern Culpeper County, raising questions about the 115mile 765-kilovolt (kV) lines proposed endpoint.

The Joshua Falls-Yeat Electric Transmission Line Project is planned to extend from Campbell to Culpeper County. The name “Joshua Falls-Yeat” comes from two specific electric substations, an existing one in Campbell County (Joshua Falls substation) and a new substation in Culpeper County (Yeat substation) that has not been constructed. The project is a joint venture between Dominion Energy, FirstEnergy Transmission and Transource, operating as the Valley Link Transmission Company. The expected completion date for the project is 2029 with the stated goal to meet Virginia’s growing energy needs.

The Culpeper BoS voted 6-1 on a resolution to oppose both the transmission line and the Yeat substation earlier this month. Board Chairman Tom Underwood, the lone dissenter, stated that he shared concerns about the project, but questioned whether this was the right time to take a position on the substation. He further clarified that if there is no power line, then there is no need for a substation.

“If we get to the point where our choice is that or our choice is the line going through the whole way through the county, I actually prefer one-third of the way through the county than three-thirds,” Underwood said. “But I’m hoping we don’t get there. I’m hoping we stop the line and it’s 0% through the county.”

According to the Rappahannock News, Culpeper has not received an application for the substation as of April 8.

Later that evening, the Culpeper BoS held a citizen forum. Over a dozen residents addressed the BoS, several wearing t-shirts with “No Valley Link” emblazoned on the front. Richardsville resident Timothy Rakes thanked the BoS for approving the resolution, but asked for clarity on the viability of the Valley Link project if the BoS votes against the Yeat substation.

“If the substation doesn’t happen and Culpeper county actually has the control of that, you guys have the power to fix this,” Rakes said. “If there is no substation, they are not going to put the line in.”

Underwood instructed Rakes to reach out to the county’s planning and zoning department, as well as the county attorney, who he said could provide their opinions.

Valley Link is expecting to file with the State Corporation Commission (SCC) in September. Rakes said when it gets to that level, the counties impacted by the project should ask to have those meetings in the respective counties.

“If every jurisdiction does that, they are going to have to come to every single one of us and have some sort of explanation,” Rakes said.

Other residents encouraged the board to unite with the other eight impacted counties to be one voice united against the project.

Mandy Martin, a Richardsville resident, stated that a week prior to the citizen forum, more than 200 people attended the newlyformed Richardsville Coalition to discuss the project and substation. Martin took issue with Underwood’s framing of the issue earlier that day regarding the substation in Richardsville versus the transmission line running through the entire county.

“…we do not wish to be the sacrificial lamb, so to speak, for Culpeper County,” Martin said. “Mr. Chairman, to hear that you’d rather see a substation the size of [multiple] Walmarts built anywhere in my third of the county, rather than the power lines that could cross the whole county, makes us a sacrifice. To what end? So we can have more data centers ruining our landscape?”

In a March Cville Right Now article, “Residents voice objections to Valley Link project,” Craig Carper, a senior communications specialist with Dominion Energy and spokesperson with Valley Link, stated they are “confident” Valley Link will get the necessary approvals from both the Culpeper Planning Commission (PC) and BoS. As of April 14, it is unclear how Culpeper’s resolution will impact the Valley Link project.