This text was taken from an email alert sent out on March 5, 2026. Sign up for email alerts →
Dear Supporter,
As I’m sure you can tell, we’ve had a busy winter advocating for commonsense data center reform at the state capitol in Richmond. As this year’s legislative session winds down, I want to take the opportunity to let you know about a few important developments in Culpeper County and encourage you to attend/weigh in and keep on the lookout for more to come.
Dominion Plans Massive Substation in Culpeper – Valley Link Meeting Tonight!
You may have seen our recent alert about the proposed electric super-highway through the Piedmont – a 115-mile, 765 kilovolt (kV) line proposed by Valley Link Transmission, a joint venture between Dominion Energy, Transource and FirstEnergy Transmission that ends in a massive substation near Richardsville in Culpeper.
Although the Joshua Falls-Yeat line and Yeat substation, as they’re currently proposed, will directly impact only a few properties in Culpeper, this line will eventually be extended to fulfill the energy demands of new data centers. The Yeat substation’s central location could mean additional transmission lines being built to serve data centers in Culpeper, Fauquier, Stafford and/or Northern Virginia. The Yeat substation is also near two gas lines, raising the question of whether Dominion could be considering this site for one of its seven new power plants.
Culpeper County requires Dominion Energy to obtain a conditional use permit for new substations. Therefore, the Planning Commission will have to review the Yeat substation proposal, and it will be subject to approval by the Board of Supervisors. We will let you know when these hearings are scheduled.
In the meantime, you can learn more about the Valley Link transmission line project by attending one of the upcoming in-person or virtual information meetings, including one happening tonight in Brandy Station.
Valley Link Transmission Line Project Meeting Tonight!
Dominion Energy will be holding a series of in-person and virtual meetings about the Valley Link project.
The Culpeper in-person meeting will take place on Thursday, March 5 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Brandy Station Volunteer Fire Department, 19601 Church Rd, Brandy Station, VA 22714. If you can’t attend this meeting (we know it’s short notice), meetings will also be held in adjacent counties and two virtual meetings are planned.
Comment Opportunity: Maroon Solar Project Returns
Maroon Solar, a proposed 65 megawatt (MW) utility-scale solar project in the Stevensburg District, has returned with another conditional use permit (CUP) application. This is the fourth time the project developer, Strata Energy, has applied for a CUP. All prior applications failed due, in large part, to concerns over the impact the project will have on local roads and streams.
What are the changes?
Compared to previous applications, the new application reduces the disturbed acreage from over 671 acres to 548 acres, with only 300 acres under panels.
However, we remain concerned about the potential for erosion and sedimentation due to the difficult soil conditions on this site. In addition, Strata Energy has a history of noncompliance with Virginia stormwater law, including failure to correct problems in a timely manner.
In 2025, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) cited Bookers Mill Solar, Cerulean Solar, Walnut Solar and Moon Corner Solar – all projects that Strata Energy is constructing for Dominion Energy – for significant stormwater violations, many of them stemming from insufficient vegetative cover and lack of soil stabilization leading to sedimentation of nearby streams.
Although the current application for Maroon Solar reduces the area under solar panels to less than 300 acres, the project will still disturb 584 acres of forested land, including mass grading and removal of tree stumps.
The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has also flagged that a large portion of the Maroon Solar proposed project property overlaps with the Southern Culpeper Diabase Flatwoods Conservation Site, an area of very high conservation significance for its association with a globally rare plant community called the Northern Piedmont Mafic Barren, totalling less than 20 acres in its entire range, and Downy Phlox, a rare plant with only four documented locations in Virginia.
Much of Maroon Solar’s acreage has, until now, been managed as commercial pine, which is compatible with these rare plants and plant communities. Unfortunately, the mass grading and sowing of non-native fescue-sod, required to convert this site to utility-scale solar, are likely to have a very negative effect on these vulnerable resources.
In the letter flagging these potential resources, DCR recommends that the applicant conduct an inventory study for rare plants associated with the Culpeper Diabase Flatwoods Conservation Site and avoid disturbing any occurrences with permanent development. However, Strata Energy does not reference DCR’s recommendations anywhere in its application and offers no plans to avoid or mitigate potential impacts.
Voice Your Concerns: Send in Comments and Speak at the Planning Commission Meeting on March 11
If you share our concerns, I encourage you to send a letter to Planning Commission Planning Assistant Morgan Green, telling the Commission you have serious concerns about the application and its potential impacts to erosion, degradation and destruction of soil, forests, native flora, and wetlands. In addition, you can attend and speak at the Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, March 11 at 7 p.m. at 302 N. Main Street, Culpeper, VA 22701 in the Board of Supervisors Meeting Room.
View the Planning Commission meeting agenda. →
💻 We’ll share the outcome of the meeting on this page and on our social media channels (Facebook and Instagram), so be sure to follow us there for the latest
Although Culpeper’s data centers are years from coming online and bringing in the tax revenue they promised to the town and county, we residents of Culpeper may feel the impacts of the approximately 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of new power sooner than anticipated. If Culpeper doesn’t consider the energy implications of new data center growth before approving big projects, we can expect increased pressure to accept new transmission lines, substations and even power production. Already this is happening in neighboring Fauquier County, which is currently experiencing pressure from approved data centers to allow on-site gas plants, which is shown to have serious negative health impacts on nearby communities.
Thanks for staying engaged on important issues in the community. Please email me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Sarah Parmelee
Land Use Field Representative
Culpeper County
[email protected]
(540) 347-2334 ext. 7045
