Goochland Supervisors Formally Oppose Valley Link Transmission Line Routing

The farmland and forested parcels of western Goochland's District 1 face a permanently cleared 200-foot right-of-way lined with 160-foot lattice towers if Valley Link's proposed transmission project gets state approval, and the county's Board of Supervisors voted April 7 to formally stand in its way.

The project, a joint venture among Dominion Energy, FirstEnergy Transmission and Transource, would stretch 115 miles from Joshua Falls in Campbell County to Yeat in Culpeper County at 765 kilovolts, carrying bulk electricity northward to load centers with no direct upgrade to Goochland's local distribution system. Valley Link plans to file its application with the Virginia State Corporation Commission by summer 2026, a deadline that sets the clock on what is likely to be an extended permitting fight.

At 765 kV, Virginia regulatory practice establishes a 1,000-foot-wide planning corridor within which the utility locates the precise route, and the permanent easement carved from that corridor runs 200 feet across. Once the SCC approves a route, the joint venture holds legal authority to acquire those easements through condemnation if voluntary agreements with landowners cannot be reached. Towers would rise roughly every quarter-mile across the line's full length.

More than 360 residents turned out for Valley Link's Goochland open house on March 23, a number the county cited in its resolution alongside extensive written correspondence from landowners ahead of the April 7 vote. The concerns centered on visual impact from the overhead lattice structures, permanent forest and agricultural clearing inside the right-of-way, and depressed property values on parcels adjacent to the corridor.

The resolution goes beyond symbolic opposition. The Board directed the County Administrator and County Attorney to explore whether Goochland can intervene as a formal respondent before the SCC rather than participating only as a public witness, a distinction that would give the county standing to cross-examine witnesses, submit technical evidence and challenge specific routing decisions during the permitting proceeding. Staff were also directed to coordinate with other affected localities. Goochland joins Louisa, Fluvanna and several other counties along the nine-county corridor that have moved toward organized regional opposition.

The county's formal position is that the line offers no direct benefit to Goochland electricity customers: its function is to move large blocks of power to higher-demand areas north of the county, and Goochland's grid is not part of the upgrade.

Landowners in District 1 who believe their property falls within or near the study corridor should document current land use, any farming or forestry operations, and existing easements before Valley Link's SCC filing opens the formal docket. Once a docket is open, property owners inside the corridor may be contacted about easement acquisition, and individual participation in the SCC proceeding will require early preparation. Route maps are posted on Valley Link's project website; county-level outreach notices are available on the Goochland County government website.