Dominion Energy | FFXnow

Published April 1, 2024 at 1:30PM | Updated July 16, 2024 at 7:58PM

Workers install solar panels on Reston Fire Station 25 (courtesy Fairfax County Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination)

Fearing that new interconnection rules from Dominion Energy could derail its carbon reduction targets, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has asked Virginia’s utility regulator to step in.

In a near-unanimous vote, supervisors authorized Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw on March 19 to send a letter asking the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to evaluate whether the new regulations create unnecessary hurdles for small renewable energy projects attempting to join the power grid.

Countywide

Fairfax County to revise zoning regulations for data centers amid surging usage

By James Jarvis

Published March 20, 2024 at 3:45PM

CoreSite's Reston data center campus (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Amid a surge in digital storage demand in Northern Virginia, Fairfax County is drafting stricter zoning regulations to enhance oversight of data center projects.

On Tuesday (March 19), the Board of Supervisors directed staff to update the county’s zoning laws to include new data center development criteria, such as increased residential buffers, size limits, energy efficiency standards and a mandatory noise study in the site plan.

News

Columbia Pike still closed after vehicle crash into house, utility pole in Bailey’s Crossroads

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 12, 2024 at 10:30AM

Downed utility pole on Columbia Pike in Bailey's Crossroads (via FCPD/Twitter)

Columbia Pike has been closed for more than 12 hours near Bailey’s Crossroads after a vehicle crashed into a house and utility pole last night (Sunday), taking out the pole and, with it, the area’s electricity.

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue investigators were dispatched to Columbia Pike at Powell Lane around 7:16 p.m. for the single-vehicle crash, according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.

News

Electrical fire leads to smoke, power outage on Route 7 in Tysons

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 14, 2023 at 2:20PM

Electrical equipment caught on fire near 8219 Leesburg Pike in Tysons (photo by Alan Henney)

Dark smoke was seen wafting over Route 7 near the Tysons Commerce Center office building (8219 Leesburg Pike) earlier this afternoon.

Alan Henney, a local crime and public safety watcher, reported hearing an “explosion [that] sounded like a transformer with fire” in the 8200 block of Leesburg Pike around 12:30 p.m. Photos and videos of the scene showed black smoke billowing up from near the office building, which is across the street from PetSmart.

News

Project to underground Tysons electric line will close trail next month

By Angela Woolsey

Published October 19, 2023 at 9:30AM

Vesper Trail will close for construction to underground a power line in the Spring Hill area of Tysons (via Dominion Energy)

Construction is about to ramp up on Dominion Energy’s undergrounding of a power line near the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons.

The project will require an extended closure of the entire Vesper Trail from Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) to Vesper Street at Higdon Drive, starting Nov. 1, the utility company recently told residents in the area.

News

Nation’s largest solar energy project on airport grounds powers up at Dulles International

By Fatimah Waseem

Published August 22, 2023 at 9:45AM

Tens of thousands of solar panels will be installed on airport grounds (Photo courtesy MWAA).

Dulles International Airport will soon be able to generate solar energy on its grounds.

Dominion Energy and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will break ground on a new solar energy and storage project — called Solar + Storage Project — on vacant land near airport today (Tuesday).

News

Thunderstorm knocks out power for many in southeastern Fairfax County

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 14, 2023 at 5:55PM

Power outages in Belle Haven on Aug. 14, 2023 (via Dominion Energy)

Nearly 9,000 people in Fairfax County are without power after this afternoon’s storms, the most intense of which have moved on into Maryland.

As of 5:30 p.m., 8,971 Dominion Energy customers in the county had lost power, according to the real-time tracking database PowerOutage.US.

Countywide

More than 2,000 people in Fairfax County still waiting for power after thunderstorm

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 8, 2023 at 9:45AM

Power outages in Fairfax area on Aug. 8, 2023 (via Dominion Energy)

Utility crews are still working to restore electricity to over 2,000 customers after last night’s storms.

As of 9 a.m., there were 2,545 people in the county without power, according to PowerOutage.US, which collects data from utilities across the country. That includes 1,672 Dominion Energy customers and 873 customers of the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC).

Countywide

UPDATED: More than 16,000 without power in Fairfax County as storms roll through

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 7, 2023 at 6:15PM | Updated August 7, 2023 at 8:05PM

Park Street in Vienna just before the thunderstorm (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

(Updated at 8:05 p.m.) Thousands of people in Fairfax County have been hit by power outages in the wake of a thunderstorm that’s continuing to march eastward toward D.C.

As of 7:15 p.m., there were 16,029 customers in Fairfax County and another 1,770 customers in Fairfax City without power, according to Dominion Energy’s outage map, which shows 90 separate outages.

Countywide

GW Parkway still partially closed as storm cleanup continues

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 31, 2023 at 9:45AM | Updated July 31, 2023 at 1:37PM

Most of the GW Parkway's northern section is closed as crews continue to remove trees knocked down by Saturday's storm (via Google Maps)

(Updated at 1:35 p.m.) The ear-splitting thunder that accompanied Saturday’s rainstorm has faded, but efforts to clean up the resulting damage continue.

All southbound lanes on the northern section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway in McLean and Arlington remained closed during rush hour this morning (Monday), as crews worked to remove fallen trees.