More than 16,000 residences and businesses in Fairfax County lack power following last night’s powerful thunderstorm.
As of 10 a.m., power outages were affecting approximately 16,464 Dominion Energy customers in the county, plus another 607 customers in Fairfax City, according to the utility’s outage map.
The Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations is backing neighbors in their fight against the planned Plaza 500 data center campus and its associated electrical substation in Lincolnia.
The federation voted at its membership meeting last Thursday (Aug. 27) to oppose the 34-acre data center campus at 6295 and 6299 Edsall Road proposed by Starwood Capital Group and a substation proposed by Dominion Energy.
Politicians are scrambling nationally to address growing public concern over data centers, and in Northern Virginia, where many local elected leaders will be on the ballot in 2027, the issue is proving a delicate balancing act.
Fairfax County residents expect “fair rules of engagement” when it comes to addressing the impacts of data centers, Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay said at the 11th annual Northern Virginia Regional Elected Leaders Summit, held on Wednesday (Aug. 26) in Arlington.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) has formally filed to intervene in the proposed merger of Dominion Energy with Florida-based NextEra Energy.
The $67 billion merger proposal is under review by Virginia’s State Corporation Commission (SCC). According to her office, Spanberger is the first governor in Virginia history to intervene in an SCC case. Chief Energy Officer Josephus Allmond, the first person appointed to Spanberger’s new cabinet position, also filed to be a party in the case.
The county supervisor who represents the Lincolnia area where data center development is being planned has shared opposition to the proposed electrical substation associated with the project.
Supervisor Andres Jimenez (D-Mason) called on the Fairfax County Planning Commission to reject the Edsall Road substation and related transmission infrastructure at Plaza 500. The substation was proposed by Dominion Energy to meet the data center load from planned data centers.
An earlier version of this story referred to the State Corporation Commission approving a substation, but the SCC approval only incorporates transmission lines.
As plans for the first phase of data centers have been submitted in Lincolnia just outside Alexandria city limits, residents are focusing opposition on an electric substation under review.
Thousands of residents in Fairfax County, particularly the Burke area, are grappling with the aftermath of yesterday’s thunderstorm.
As of 11 a.m., more than 1,400 homes and businesses in the county were still without electricity, including about 700 customers in the Burke, Springfield and Fairfax area south of George Mason University’s campus, according to Dominion Energy.
More than 25,000 homes and businesses are without power in Fairfax County after severe storms ripped through the region.
The storms arrived amid the evening commute and came in two waves, prompting multiple Severe Thunderstorm Warnings from the National Weather Service. As of publication time the second wave is starting to exit the county to the east.
More than 21,200 Dominion Energy customers in Fairfax County have reported losing power as a result of thunderstorms currently passing through the region.
As of 8 p.m., the majority of outages are focused in the eastern part of the county, though some in the Fair Oaks area have also been affected, according to Dominion’s outage map. In most cases, the utility hasn’t determined an estimated time of restoration yet.
Over the next year, visitors can expect to see fewer invasive plant species and more native plantings along the Washington & Old Dominion Trail and other regional parks.
The NOVA Parks Board of Directors adopted a fiscal year 2027 budget at its meeting last Thursday (May 21) that includes increased funding for invasive species management throughout the system, and for tree and shrubbery plantings along the 45-mile W&OD Trail, among other priorities.
