power | FFXnow

New agreement aims to protect both trees and power lines along W&OD Trail

Published February 3, 2026 at 10:05AM

A sign posted in October 2025 tells Washington & Old Dominion Trail users that Dominion Energy will replant a cleared area with native trees and shrubs as invasive species encroach (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

After months of negotiations and pressure from both elected officials and community members, Dominion Energy and NOVA Parks have settled on a new path forward for managing trees near power lines along the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Railroad Regional Park.

Dominion and the regional park authority, which owns and manages the 45-mile-long W&OD Trail, have reached an agreement governing vegetation management activities that, among other provisions, requires the utility to provide advanced notice of any major maintenance work and to plant native species in affected areas when possible.

Countywide

Fairfax County solidifies new rules for electrical substations as energy demand grows

By Nolan Stout

Published December 15, 2025 at 1:45PM

An electrical substation in Idylwood (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County is requiring future electrical substations to be built at least 100 feet away from residential property lines.

At its meeting last week (Dec. 9), the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a zoning ordinance amendment governing substations.

Countywide

Fairfax planning commission torn over how strictly to regulate electric substations

By Scott McCaffrey

Published October 23, 2025 at 1:45PM

Dominion Energy's Tysons substation on Tyco Road (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A split Fairfax County Planning Commission voted last night (Wednesday) to recommend requiring future electrical substations to be built at least 200 feet away from residential property lines.

The commission narrowly supported a 200-foot setback as one of four options on the table. County staff had recommended 100 feet, while some commissioners proposed 150 or 300 feet.

News

Electric project to power planned Lincolnia data center approved by regulator

By Charles Paullin, Inside Climate News

Published August 21, 2025 at 9:15AM

Tim Pendergrass, Ridges at Edsall HOA president, speaks at a data center rally next to the site of a proposed data center at 6295 Edsall Road (staff photo by James Jarvis)

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

RICHMOND—Bren Pointe residents in Fairfax County are closer to seeing steel transmission towers rise just outside their townhomes after Virginia’s regulators approved a new electricity line to serve a single planned commercial data center.

News

Dominion substations approved to support Dulles-area data centers

By Scott McCaffrey

Published July 16, 2025 at 3:45PM

Site of proposed Park Center Road power substation (via Dominion Energy)

Despite objections to one of the projects from nearby residents, the Fairfax County Planning Commission at its July 9 meeting approved Dominion Energy’s requests for two new electrical substations to support future data centers in the Dulles area.

A 300-megawatt Towerview substation will be wedged between Sully Road (Route 28) and Park Center Road in the Floris neighborhood, just east of Dulles International Airport. Dominion will lease the site from the owner of the Dulles Gateway data center, which is being constructed immediately to its south.

News

Fairfax leaders urge Dominion to stop cutting trees along W&OD Trail

By Angela Woolsey

Published March 20, 2025 at 9:45AM

Tree stumps under Dominion Energy power lines along the W&OD Trail in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NOVA Parks) is turning up the pressure on Dominion Energy to end widespread tree clearings along the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail.

At the regional agency’s request, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 9-0 to approve a resolution on Tuesday (March 18) urging Dominion to halt reported plans to cut down any tree along the 45-mile-long trail that might someday interfere with its overhead power lines.

News

NEW: Tree clear-cutting along W&OD Trail alarms local officials and residents

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 27, 2025 at 9:00AM

A tree stump left by Dominion Energy near the Washington & Old Dominion Trail (courtesy NOVA Parks)

Some tree trimmings and removals were expected when Dominion Energy initated a project last year to replace electrical lines in the Vienna section of the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail, but the extent of the clearings has taken local residents, elected officials and even the agency that owns the trail by surprise.

Starting in November, the utility began cutting down trees and vegetation along a 4-mile stretch of the trail from Vienna to Dunn Loring at a much more “aggressive” scale than it has in the past, according to Paul Gilbert, executive director of the Northern Virginia Regional Parks Authority (NOVA Parks).

News

W&OD Trail temporarily closed in Vienna area for Dominion Energy project

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 13, 2024 at 1:15PM

The Washington & Old Dominion Trail is temporarily closed at Cedar Lane in Dunn Loring (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A nearly 3-mile stretch of the Washington & Old Dominion Trail has been out of commission this week, but pedestrians and bicyclists should be able to return soon.

Dominion Energy closed the trail from Mill Street NE in Vienna to Sandburg Street in Dunn Loring on Monday, Nov. 11 as part of its ongoing project to replace electric power lines between the Clark and Idylwood substations.

News

Fairfax County School Board jumps regulatory hurdles to OK solar panels for nine schools

By James Jarvis

Published July 17, 2024 at 10:30AM | Updated July 18, 2024 at 9:56AM

A solar panel demonstration project outside Luther Jackson Middle School (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

In a bid to cut energy costs by tens of thousands of dollars, the Fairfax County School Board finalized a deal with a local solar developer last month to outfit nine elementary schools across the county with 250-kilowatt (kW) solar panels.

The solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) comes years after the school board approved a series of much larger solar projects that were halted after Dominion Energy introduced new interconnection rules that substantially increased project costs, rendering the projects economically unfeasible.

News

Dominion Energy to replace nearly 4-mile electric line from Vienna to Idylwood

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 12, 2024 at 3:30PM

Dominion Energy's transmission line by the Washington & Old Dominion Trail in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Work on an overhaul of Dominion Energy’s electric transmission line between Vienna and Idylwood is expected to start next month, the utility says.

The project will replace the wires — known as a reconductor — that run parallel to a 3.9-mile section of the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, connecting the Clark substation at 375 Center Street near Caboose Tavern in Vienna and the Idylwood substation at 7701 Shreve Road.