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.

On Aug. 8, the State Corporation Commission (SCC), which regulates Virginia’s utilities, approved Dominion Energy’s request to erect the “Edsall Substation,” a short walk from the Bren Pointe community in Alexandria. The project includes eight 120-foot towers and 230-kilovolt charged cables to serve a lone 176-megawatt hyperscale data center in Northern Virginia.

Dominion mapping shows the substation as 100 feet—about the length of a basketball court—from Bren Pointe residents. The Bren Pointe Homeowners Association contends the towers and station will

See Full Page