Call to Action

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN LOCAL COMMUNITIES LOSE THE RIGHT TO SAY NO?

The proposed Yeat Substation in Richardsville, Virginia, is a warning to rural communities everywhere. Dominion Energy representatives have stated publicly that site-specific studies have not been completed and would follow approval of the proposed substation. Meanwhile, our local fire department has already raised serious concerns about the site’s safety, including limited emergency access and the lack of adequate alternative egress.

In addition, our community relies on private wells, volunteer fire protection and rural roads. Residents face concerns about emergency evacuation, access for firefighting equipment, wildfire risk, potential groundwater contamination and impacts on surrounding homes, farms, forests and wildlife habitats.

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OUR ENVIRONMENT AND HISTORIC LANDSCAPES ARE ALSO AT RISK.

On May 19, 2026, Preservation Virginia named the Joshua Falls–Yeat transmission corridor to its list of Virginia’s Most Endangered Historic Places for 2026. The designation followed a nomination by the Piedmont Environmental Council, American Battlefield Trust and eight additional conservation and historic-preservation organizations. Eleven historic districts and several battlefields could be affected by the proposed project. The approximately 115-mile corridor would cut through largely undeveloped agricultural and forested landscapes, requiring an approximately 200-foot-wide cleared right-of-way.

This is not simply a question of where to place electrical equipment. It is about the permanent industrialization and fragmentation of rural landscapes, the destruction of established habitat, potential impacts on streams and groundwater, and the degradation of historic places that cannot be recreated once lost. Our farmland, forests, waterways, wildlife habitats and historic landscapes are irreplaceable resources, not vacant land waiting to be industrialized.

These concerns deserve thorough, independent evaluation BEFORE a site or corridor is approved, not after the decision has effectively been made!

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THIS IS WHY LOCAL SITING AUTHORITY MATTERS.

State and federal regulators may evaluate regional electrical reliability and infrastructure needs but who understands whether the roads can accommodate emergency vehicles? Who knows whether residents can safely evacuate? Who understands the capabilities of our volunteer fire department, the limitations of our water supply, sensitive natural resources and the historical significance of the surrounding landscape? The people who live here. The first responders who serve here. The local officials responsible for protecting us.

Public safety and environmental suitability must be demonstrated BEFORE siting approval, not promised afterward.

Now, state and federal policymakers are advancing measures intended to accelerate energy infrastructure approvals and potentially expand government siting authority. If legislation allows utilities to bypass local approval, communities could lose one of their most important safeguards against dangerous, environmentally destructive or incompatible industrial development.

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WE DEMAND THAT OUR STATE AND FEDERAL LEADERS:

1. Protect local siting authority for substations, including those associated with interstate transmission projects. Oppose any legislation that weakens or eliminates meaningful local approval requirements.

2. Require independent site-specific safety and environmental studies BEFORE approval, including emergency access, evacuation routes, firefighting capabilities, private wells, groundwater, wetlands, wildlife habitats, historic resources and alternative locations.

3. Give local emergency responders and environmental experts a meaningful voice in the siting process. Their documented concerns must be addressed before decisions are made.

4. Respect local comprehensive plans, agricultural zoning and conservation priorities. Utility convenience and data center demand must not override established land-use protections.

5. Require use of existing industrial sites, brownfields and infrastructure corridors before allowing new greenfield development in residential and agricultural communities.

6. Protect Virginia’s irreplaceable historic and natural resources. Require thorough consideration of cumulative environmental, cultural and scenic impacts before authorizing massive new transmission corridors or substations.

CONTACT YOUR STATE AND FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES TODAY.

Tell them:

NO to legislation that strips local communities of substation siting authority.

NO to approving industrial-scale electrical infrastructure before its location has been demonstrated to be safe and environmentally appropriate.

NO to sacrificing farmland, forests, historic landscapes and rural communities to accommodate unchecked data center demand.

OUR SAFETY IS NOT NEGOTIABLE. OUR PROPERTY RIGHTS MATTER. OUR ENVIRONMENT IS NOT EXPENDABLE. AND OUR COMMUNITIES ARE NOT SACRIFICE ZONES.