City Establishes Group to Examine Dominion's Proposed Underline Transmission Line Project

On Wednesday, the Alexandria City Council adopted a resolution to establish a working group to examine the effects of a proposal by Dominion Virginia Power to construct a new 230-kilovolt, underground transmission line between Alexandria and Arlington County, near Jefferson Davis Highway and Potomac Yard, according to a news release from the city.

In a June 5 letter to the city manager, Dominion says they are proposing the underground lines to upgrade the system "in response to a local reliability load issue that Dominion planning engineers have identified that could potentially impact neighbors by 2018. This line, like most in the Dominion service area, would be networked with the electric grid so it would indeed strengthen the overall system."

The project would add and upgrade equipment at the existing switching station on E. Abingdon Drive in Alexandria and connect it to the (Four Mile Run) Glebe Substation on S. Glebe Road in Arlington. The project does not involve the nearby former NRG Potomac River Generating Station, which is permanently closed.

The Underground Transmission Line and Substation Working Group will examine quality of life, economic, electric reliability, and environmental and transportation impacts associated with the proposed project and will make recommendations to staff, the City Manager, and City Council. 

The Working Group will be composed of a wide range of representatives from civic organizations in the communities possibly affected by the project, and representatives from several boards, commissions, and the business community.Members will be nominated by the named organizations with appointment from those nominations made by the City Manager.

The City has asked Dominion to consider options that do not involve routes in Alexandria, or that they use the Potomac River or other existing electrical infrastructure corridors. If it is necessary to use a new Alexandria alignment, the City has asked for a route with the least impact on the community. 

In a June 2 letter, City Manager Young requested that Dominion prepare a needs assessment, a report on the feasibility of alternatives (including an environmental analysis), a community outreach plan, an overall work plan, and civic engagement practices modeled after the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. 

For more information on the proposed transmission line project, visit alexandriava.gov/DVP230KV.  The page will be frequently updated as more information becomes available.