Plaza 500 Data Center Fight Goes Statewide as 1,300+ Residents ask Gov. Spanberger to halt data cent

THANKS TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU! In just three days 1,313 residents and 29 organizations came together on the letter to Gov. Spanberger seeking her support to deny the Edsall Data Center Substation Application!! 

WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT!! 

The public version of the letter (redacted emails and only first initial of last name) is posted on the SaveBrenMar website: https://sites.google.com/view/savebrenmar/home

Lets keep the momentum going by sending emails to the Fairfax County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors calling on them to deny the 2232 application. A sample message and email contacts are available here: https://sites.google.com/view/savebrenmar/home#h.4zaa6yhlfa4u

Please also mark your calendar for the September 24 Planning Commission hearing and vote on the Edsall Data Center Substation Application. We need to fill the room in order to win this vote. 

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2026

1,300+ Residents and Organizations Seek Gov. Spanberger’s Support to Stop High-Voltage Data Center Substation Just 67 Feet From Residential Communities

Coalition says the Governor’s recent win at the SCC is the reason this Fairfax County project deserves a second look.

CONTACT:
Tyler Ray, Founder, Save Bren Mar Coalition; President, Bren Pointe Homeowners Association
savebrenmar@gmail.com · https://sites.google.com/view/savebrenmar/home

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va., August 11, 2026 — More than 1,300 Virginians have asked Governor Abigail Spanberger to publicly oppose Dominion Energy’s proposed Edsall Data Center Substation, a five-acre, 230-kilovolt facility that would sit as close as 67 feet from residential communities on the Fairfax County/Alexandria border, according to community measurements.

Over the course of the last weekend, the letter gathered signatures from 1,312 Virginians and the support of 29 organizations. In addition to those 1,312 individual signers, a former Fairfax County Planning Commissioner also signed the letter. Signers represent 21 cities and counties, with particularly strong participation from Fairfax County, Alexandria, and Arlington, as well as support from residents in Richmond, Roanoke, Charlottesville, Henrico, and other communities across Virginia. Roughly 84,000 people live within two miles of the proposed site, based on an analysis of 2020 Census block data.

Elected officials at the federal, state, county, and city levels now oppose this location. Delegate Vivian E. Watts asked the SCC to deny the project in February 2025. U.S. Representative Don Beyer wrote to the Planning Commission urging denial on July 30. On August 3, Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and the City Council formally asked the Commission to deny the application, calling heavy industrial use this close to a densely populated area a “clear and compelling reason” to reject it. On August 6, Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez, whose district includes the proposed site, urged the Commission to recommend denial, saying he remains unconvinced that alternative sites and co-location have been fully exhausted. 

The coalition is asking the Governor to call on the Fairfax County Planning Commission to deny the pending 2232 application, scheduled for a vote on September 24. That hearing is the first time the public gets a say on any part of this project, and the last.

Because the proposed substation would sit along the Fairfax County–City of Alexandria border, its impacts would extend across jurisdictional lines, even though the land-use decision rests solely with Fairfax County. This cross-jurisdictional gap makes the project particularly appropriate for the Governor’s involvement.

The State Corporation Commission has already made clear what is driving this project. In 2025 the Hearing Examiner in the transmission line case found that, “but for the Customer’s request for service the Project likely—if not certainly—would not be needed at this time.” In other words, the substation is needed because a single data center campus requested 176 megawatts of power. SCC staff confirmed this finding under oath during the SCC proceedings as reflected in the hearing transcripts on pg, 73.

On July 31, after the Spanberger administration pushed for action, the SCC directed Dominion to file a new policy within 90 days addressing who pays for transmission infrastructure built for new or expanding large power users. The Governor’s office says the decision will require data centers to pay for infrastructure built specifically for their projects.

Residents have long asked why the substation could not be placed at the existing Van Dorn Substation, away from homes between I-495 and the Metro tracks. Dominion rejected that option after estimating that it would cost about $48.3 million more and present other logistical challenges. The coalition believes the SCC’s new direction on who should pay changes a central cost argument against the Van Dorn option and calls for another review.

The new policy would apply going forward and does not automatically reopen the approval the SCC has already granted, a denial of the 2232 application before the Planning Commission would achieve that result. A Planning Commission denial could also be appealed to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Should Dominion or Starwood Capital Group appeal a denial,the residents are asking the Board of Supervisors to honor precedent,respect Supervisor Jimenez’s position, and vote to uphold the Planning Commission’s denial. If the denial is upheld, Dominion could not move forward with the Edsall location under its current application. A significantly different location would require new local and state reviews, allowing the project to be considered under the cost rules in place at that time.

Dominion Energy appears to be downplaying the true catalyst for this project: Starwood Capital Group’s data center. At a July 28 public meeting, Dominion representatives failed to acknowledge the project was for a data center until pressed by Mason District Planning Commissioner Alis Wang. Furthermore, Dominion recently scrubbed its public website, removing the statement that the substation was 'needed to serve the growing data center load in that area,' replacing it with vague claims about meeting 'growing energy needs.'" 

Statements

Tyler Ray, Founder, Save Bren Mar Coalition:

“This proposal represents everything that is wrong with data center transmission infrastructure. The impacts of this project cross city and county lines, leaving residents without a voice, while the proposed location is being driven entirely by who pays for the infrastructure.” 

"Thousands of residents are asking Governor Spanberger to step in and call on the Fairfax County Planning Commission to deny this application. It must be sent back to the SCC for reconsideration under the new rules that ensure data center developers—not residents—pay the price and be located away from residents." 

Key Date
Thursday, September 24, at 7:00 p.m. — Fairfax County Planning Commission public hearing and decision on the Edsall Data Center Substation 2232 application (2232-2025-MA-00007)

Fairfax County Government Center
12000 Government Center Parkway
Fairfax, VA 22035