Dominion’s current description of Haymarket project on their website – July 2017

Haymarket

In light of recent events, we have sent a letter to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors along with filing a motion with the State Corporation Commission asking to pause the current proceeding. We also have sent a letter updating property owners  along the Carver Road Route.

On June 23, 2017, the SCC Commissioners issued its Final Order adopting the findings in its Interim Order and approved Dominion Energy’s application along the Carver Road Route. In its Interim Order, the Commission found, among other things, that the project is needed and will “permit the Company to maintain reliable electric service…and support overall growth in the area.”

The SCC’s Final Order regarding the Haymarket project is an important step in helping us maintain reliable electric service to more than 6,000 customers in the western Prince William County area. We look forward to continuing to work with Prince William County and the community as this project moves forward.

The Haymarket Project involves building a new 230kV double circuit transmission line serving a new local substation west of the Haymarket town limits. It will support new high-tech sector business expansion proposed in Western Prince William, projected to exceed the capabilities of our electric distribution system.

Description

The proposed project will support the rapid and continued commercial growth, particularly in the high-tech sector, in Haymarket and western Prince William County. This will also strengthen electric reliability for the local area by providing a new source of power in the heart of the growth area.

The amount of load growth requires a new 230kV double circuit transmission line using existing transportation corridors where possible and requiring new right of way. The new line will extend to a new substation west of the Haymarket town limits.

The new substation, to be built on a shared commercial property, will accommodate future area growth. The combined efforts will provide Dominion Energy, and eventually NOVEC, additional capacity to support continued economic development and improved reliability for the area. While the new transmission facilities are being built, Dominion Energy is currently reinforcing its existing distribution system to help meet the immediate demand for electricity.

  • Approximate total line length: 5.1 +/- miles (proposed project as filed)
  • Right of Way: New right of way corridor will be 100’ (proposed project as filed)
  • Structure Type: Single Shaft, Double Circuit, Average Height 112′ – Typical structure comparison images (galvanized steel)

Outreach has included letters to neighboring property owners, email updates, local newspaper ads, and public meetings.

We strive to minimize the impacts of our new projects that require new right of way while being sensitive to the permanent change to the community we have an obligation to serve.

Benefits

The transmission line and substation will:

  • provide needed capacity to serve the rapid commercial/high tech sector growth in the area
  • help strengthen the electrical grid and improve overall reliability for the community, and
  • enable continued economic development in the area

Route Maps

The routing for this project, as with all projects but especially where new right of way is needed, is a sensitive undertaking and not taken lightly. Dominion Energy considers a number of factors when studying options for routing new electric transmission lines. We evaluate a route’s constructability and operability while carefully weighing potential impacts on property owners, historic assets and the environment, to name a few.

It is important that we study and present various alternatives in order to have a complete application for the SCC to consider, which must include a proposed route, as well as constructible alternative(s). The Company strives in all of its applications to propose the project that addresses the identified need and reasonably minimizes impacts.

Ultimately, the SCC will make the final determination of the route location that reasonably minimizes impacts.

Current Maps

Alternatives

Older Map Versions

Timeline

SCC Approval Process

The State Corporation Commission (SCC) is responsible for determining the need, route and environmental impact of transmission lines in Virginia.

Dominion Energy submitted its application regarding the Haymarket Project on November 6, 2015. Documents related to the case are made available to the public on the SCC Docket Search section of the SCC web site, in the “Search Cases” section (enter case number PUE-2015-00107). In addition, interested parties may also comment directly to the SCC by sending an email to sccinfo@scc.virginia.gov.

To learn more about this process, view our SCC process map.