A massive new high-voltage transmission line is being planned across the heart of Central Virginia, and the scale of what’s proposed should concern every resident and landowner — especially in Buckingham County and neighboring communities.

Valley Link — a joint venture of Dominion Energy, FirstEnergy Transmission, and Transource Energy — is advancing the Joshua Falls–Yeat Transmission Line Project: a 115-mile, 765-kilovolt (kV) corridor stretching from Campbell County north to Culpeper County.

At 765 kV, these would be the highest-capacity transmission lines in Virginia and among the most powerful in the nation.

 

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What Does “765 Kilovolt” Actually Mean?

A 765 kV transmission line is designed to move enormous amounts of electricity over long distances with minimal line loss. These lines form the backbone of regional grids.

But on the ground, that technical description translates into:

• Towers approximately 135 to 165 feet tall
• A permanently cleared right-of-way roughly 200 feet wide
• Continuous vegetation management for the life of the project

In Buckingham County and across the proposed corridor, that means wide swaths of forest and farmland permanently converted to utility easement — fragmenting habitat, altering topography, and reshaping rural viewsheds.

This is not a minor upgrade to existing infrastructure. It is a new industrial corridor cutting across some of the most ecologically and agriculturally valuable land in Central Virginia.

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Official Outreach and Growing Public Attention

Valley Link has mailed letters to approximately 120,000 property owners along the proposed routes and launched a public information website for stakeholder engagement.

Local media have brought the project to the forefront:

• The Farmville Herald has covered route input on its front page. https://farmvilleherald.com/2026/02/input-sought-on-line-route/
• The Fluvanna Review has reported on the corridor’s potential impacts amid rising power demand. https://fluvannareview.com/2026/02/as-power-demand-grows-valley-link-eyes-fluvanna-corridor/
• Regional television coverage has highlighted the project’s $1 billion cost and 115-mile scope. https://www.29news.com/2026/02/19/1-billion-115-mile-electric-transmission-line-project-planned-parts-central-virginia/

Public awareness is increasing — but so are questions.

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No Federal Environmental Review

One of the most consequential aspects of this proposal is what will not happen before construction.

Because the project does not rely on federal funding and does not primarily cross federal land, it is not subject to review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

NEPA requires federal agencies to evaluate the cumulative and aggregate environmental impacts of major infrastructure projects before approval. It mandates alternatives analysis and public disclosure of environmental consequences.

Without NEPA review, there will be:

• No comprehensive federal environmental impact statement
• No required cumulative impact assessment across the full 115 miles
• No federally mandated alternatives comparison
• No binding federal obligation to evaluate long-term habitat fragmentation, carbon loss, or watershed disruption

Instead, oversight falls to the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC), which evaluates public need and routing but does not conduct a NEPA-equivalent cumulative environmental review.

For a $1 billion project spanning nine counties and establishing the highest-voltage lines in the Commonwealth, many residents question whether that level of oversight is sufficient.

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Power Lines, Risk, and Public Safety Concerns

High-voltage transmission lines generate electromagnetic fields (EMFs), and research over decades has explored potential health associations. Some studies have reported elevated leukemia risk among children living in close proximity to high-voltage lines, including findings published in the British Columbia Medical Journal noting increased risk within 200 meters of transmission corridors.

Transmission lines also carry operational risk under extreme conditions. Investigations into California’s 2018 Camp Fire — the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history — determined that sparks from power line equipment owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company ignited the blaze, which killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 19,000 structures.

While Virginia’s climate and terrain differ, the incident underscores the reality that high-voltage infrastructure is not without hazard.

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The Solar and Data Center Connection

Valley Link states that the line is necessary to meet rapidly growing electricity demand, particularly driven by Northern Virginia’s data center concentration.

Critics, including the Piedmont Environmental Council, argue that the corridor will also enable expanded land-intensive energy development, particularly large utility-scale solar facilities. Transmission infrastructure determines what land is economically viable for development. Every interconnection point along the corridor signals to developers that rural Virginia land can now be converted to industrial-scale energy use.

For rural counties, that raises an important question: Is this 115-mile corridor the endpoint — or the beginning of widespread industrial solar development?

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Upcoming Open Houses — Your Opportunity to Speak

Valley Link will hold a series of community open houses next month to gather public input on the project and its two potential routes. These meetings are one of the few direct opportunities for landowners and residents to put concerns on record before a final route recommendation is submitted to the SCC in 2026.

In-Person Open Houses (by date)

• Culpeper — March 5, 5:30–7:30 p.m., Brandy Station Fire Department
• Orange — March 9, 5:30–7:30 p.m., Lafayette Station
• Spotsylvania — March 9, 6–8 p.m., Ni River Middle School
• Appomattox — March 10, 5:30–7:30 p.m., Appomattox Community Center
• Fluvanna — March 10, 5:30–7:30 p.m., Fluvanna Community Center
• Louisa — March 12, 5:30–7:30 p.m., Betty J. Queen Center
• Campbell — March 23, 5:30–7:30 p.m., Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance
• Goochland — March 23, 5:30–7:30 p.m., Central High Cultural and Education Complex

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  Buckingham

  — March 24, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. and 5:30–7:30 p.m., Buckingham County Community Center

Can’t Make an In-Person Meeting?

 

 

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The Larger Question

This is not simply a debate about aesthetics or property values.

It is about:

• The long-term transformation of Central Virginia’s landscape
• The adequacy of environmental oversight
• Who bears the cost of infrastructure built to support industrial-scale demand
• And who ultimately decides what our counties look like in a generation

Once a 200-foot-wide, 115-mile corridor is cleared and energized at 765 kilovolts, it will not revert to forest or farmland. More importantly, it opens Central Virginia to the loss of hundreds of thousands of acres of land-intensive utility-scale solar projects. Every interconnection point along the corridor signals to developers that rural land is now available for projects of this magnitude. In this sense, the corridor is not just a transmission line — it lays the foundation for widespread industrial solar development across the region.

The time for public engagement is now — before routes are finalized and before construction begins. Your voice matters in determining what kind of landscape Central Virginia will inherit.