News

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.


Countywide

Fairfax County’s leaders agree that natural gas companies need to communicate more with them and the public on major pipeline projects, but they appear divided on how to make that happen.

At a land use committee meeting on May 14, county staff presented the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors with potential options for regulating “high-pressure” pipelines under local streets. The review was specifically prompted by community opposition to a 2-foot-wide pipeline that Washington Gas plans to build through Pimmit Hills.


News

A long-gestating project to widen East Elden Street will no longer move utilities along the Herndon corridor underground.

The Herndon Town Council approved a resolution on May 28 authorizing the removal of a utility duct bank from the project’s scope after town staff reported that costs had drastically increased from an earlier $57.3 million estimate.


News

RELAC Water Cooling will begin delivering air-conditioning services to residents and businesses in Reston’s Lake Anne area this weekend — ahead of its official launch date of May 22.

The volunteer-run utility announced today that it will “go live” tomorrow (Saturday) to test its services, providing chilled water from the artificial lake to cool 635 residential and commercial properties.


News

Reston’s central air-conditioning service is officially returning to keep hundreds of residents and businesses cool this summer.

RELAC Water Cooling announced on Sunday (March 31) that it has received enough community donations to be able to provide chilled water for air-conditioning to roughly 635 residential and commercial properties in the Lake Anne area.


Countywide

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.


News

The air-conditioning system that has long served many homes in Reston’s Lake Anne area will still be required for 343 homes after a referendum failed to pass.

Only 165 of the 343 residents who received a ballot from Reston Association voted to revoke a provision of RA’s covenants that required those living within specific residential clusters to use the Reston Lake Anne Air-Conditioning Corporation’s (RELAC) cooling services.


News

Over 600 Lake Anne area residents served by the now-defunct Reston Lake Anne Air-conditioning Corporation (RELAC) may soon be responsible for installing their own air-conditioning units.

After historically requiring certain residences to utilize RELAC, Reston Association’s Board of Directors will hold a referendum vote next month to change its restrictive covenant to accommodate other cooling services and options.


News

A water tank erected in Idylwood around the time of the Korean War is on its last legs, Fairfax Water says.

The water authority is seeking to replace the 71-year-old Poplar Heights tank with a bigger, elevated tank that will be able to hold approximately 1.25 million gallons of water, according to an application submitted in December to Fairfax County’s planning department.


News

An explosion that occurred while firefighters were putting out a blaze at Build America Plaza in Bailey’s Crossroads in early November was caused by a backdraft, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department says.

Investigators have determined that the fire and “dramatic” explosion were accidental, resulting from degraded power lines that arced and sparked an “underground fire involving the insulation of adjacent communication lines,” the FCFRD reported today (Tuesday).


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