The facts about Valley Link in Fluvanna.

What is being proposed

Valley Link is a proposed 765-kV (765,000-volt) electric transmission project. The Joshua Falls to Yeat line would run roughly 115 miles from Campbell County to Culpeper County and, under preliminary plans, through several mostly rural counties, including Fluvanna. Valley Link is a joint venture of Dominion Energy, FirstEnergy Transmission and Transource Energy. News reports have put the cost at $1 billion or more.

Routes are preliminary. Valley Link has revised them more than once, and the route alternatives through Fluvanna are still being worked out.

How big is it?

Towers are typically 150 to 175 feet tall, about the height of a 15- to 17-story building. The new corridor would be about 200 feet wide. Valley Link says a 765-kV line can carry enough electricity for about 2 million homes.

Supporters note that 765-kV lines move a lot of power over long distances efficiently, which is why they are chosen. Our question is narrower: is this line needed here, and have less damaging alternatives been fully examined?

Why Fluvanna is not the reason

Fluvanna does not have the surge in electricity demand that is driving this project. The major growth is farther north, where data centers and other large power users are pushing demand up fast. Fluvanna is not the customer this line is being built to serve, but it could carry a substantial part of the physical impact.

Why the change could be permanent

A new corridor could cross farms, forests, waterways, homes, and historic and cultural resources. Towers up to 175 feet tall could affect views and communities well beyond the right-of-way itself. Once a major transmission corridor is established, it tends to shape the landscape for generations.

Planning is not permission

Two different decisions are often confused. PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator, forecasts needs and selects projects for its regional plan. The Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) decides whether, and along what alignment, a major line may be built in Virginia. PJM planning does not approve a route in Virginia.

Other reviewers may include the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Wildlife Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, depending on the resources and permits involved.

1. NowPreliminary routes. Collect and verify information.
2. FilingSCC application and review of proposed and alternate routes.
3. CaseOrders, agency review, comments, discovery, hearings.
4. DecisionSCC order: approval, modification or denial.

The project remains proposed and no route has been approved. For current case status, search the Virginia SCC Docket Search for "Valley Link," "Joshua Falls," or "Yeat." If a case is filed, the case-specific SCC order will control deadlines. How the process works

Key questions we believe decision-makers and project sponsors should answer before approval

1. Is this specific 765-kV line needed, based on current, independently verifiable load and reliability data?
2. How much of the claimed need comes from existing, energized load versus projects that are approved, under construction, contractually committed or otherwise not yet operating?
3. Does the project remain necessary in a conservative case that uses only existing operating developments and facilities completed and ready to energize?
4. Have less damaging alternatives, including existing corridors, upgrades, co-location and staged solutions, been fully and fairly evaluated?
5. Does the selected route minimize impacts on homes, farms, forests, historic and cultural resources, waterways and Fluvanna's rural character?
6. Will Fluvanna County have the legal and technical resources it needs to take part effectively in the SCC case?

A note on fairness: PJM's current forecasting can treat certain unenergized loads with formal service or construction commitments as firm. Asking for a sensitivity case using only existing, ready-to-energize facilities is a stricter transparency test, not a description of PJM's current rule.

Check the source before you share the claim

Use dated primary sources whenever possible, and read beyond any single advocate or developer, including us.

• Valley Link: current project descriptions and maps.
• SCC and agencies: filed records and official decisions, through the SCC's DocketSearch and public comment pages.
• Fluvanna County: Follow the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission for meetings, agendas, and the local public record. The County’s meeting calendar lists upcoming meetings and agendas.
• PJM: load forecasts and regional planning materials at pjm.com.
• Local newspapers and public radio: reporting and public-meeting coverage.
• Fluvanna Opposes Valley Link: education, source checking and general public-review guidance.

Think we have something wrong? Send a correction or public source through the contact form. Please do not use the form to send private property records or sensitive locations.