"David vs Goliath" - Virginia Farmers Fight 115-Mile Power Line Corridor

[00:00:00]All right, want to move on now to the Valley Link. As you know, we've been covering this story. The plan to build a 115-mile power line from nearly a near Lynchburg up to Culpeper County, traversing nine jurisdictions.

[00:00:16]115-miles, 200-foot swath of Interstate, called an Interstate power line. An Interstate electricity, Interstate transmission line, if you will. It's about the width of an Interstate. That's why we call it that. It's not And it's part of a the Valley Link project, which does span multiple states, comes out of Ohio, crosses West Virginia into Virginia. And of course, it is to power data centers in Northern Virginia.

[00:00:46]WSET-TV went out and spoke with some of the homeowners who will be affected by all of this.

[00:00:56]Some of them saying that this major power line is not what they bargained for when they bought their home. I'm going to open up the story here from WSET. We're going to talk about this.

[00:01:06]What do you think about all of these data centers, the proliferation of them across the state?

[00:01:11]As I continue to tell you, it's not just Northern Virginia anymore. These things are knocking on everyone's doors.

[00:01:20]You go down to Pittsylvania County, Franklin County, Buckingham County.

[00:01:27]Spotsylvania, Louisa County, they're all over.

[00:01:31]It's not just Northern Virginia. And if they're not knocking yet, trust me, they will.

[00:01:38]And I'm not a I'm not opposed to data centers. You know, a lot of people comment on the channel, "Why are you always so opposed to data centers? You know, AI's taking over everything." And well, you're right, you're on you're on a website. YouTube's online. You your whole thing is online. So, why would you be against data centers?

[00:01:56]I'm not against technology. Not against data centers.

[00:02:01]Build as many data centers as you need.

[00:02:04]But force them to pay their own way.

[00:02:07]Force them to figure out how to connect themselves to the grid. Force them to figure out how to generate electricity that they need and not drive up our electric costs.

[00:02:18]You know, you and me, we're the customers of the power company, Dominion, they like to call us rate payers, but it's customers. That's what we are.

[00:02:29]And we have to pay the cost to build the infrastructure to connect these things to the grid. And on top of that, we have to compete with these data centers for water.

[00:02:42]They pull water from the aquifer, use it to cool the servers in their data centers, pour it all over the machines in ways that obviously don't ruin the machines, but they use the water to cool the machines.

[00:02:55]And what doesn't evaporate, and after it's been recycled a few times, what's left gets pumped out to tributaries, streams, rivers, and lakes.

[00:03:12]It's a whole thing.

[00:03:13]It's a whole big thing, and it's affecting everyone. Excuse me, here we have WSET showing us exactly >> [clears throat] >> showing us exactly who it's affecting.

[00:03:26]>> A proposed power line project could change parts of Appomattox County.

[00:03:30]>> Supporters say it's needed to meet Virginia's growing energy demands. But for some landowners, this isn't just about electricity. It's about their way of life.

[00:03:38]>> WBC 13's Rachel Branning has the story.

[00:03:42]>> It's David versus Goliath.

[00:03:45]>> For the people who call this land home, the fight is personal.

[00:03:49]>> I'm going to fight it to the end.

[00:03:51]I try to save the farm as much as possible.

[00:03:54]>> Landowners across Appomattox County are pushing back against a proposed 115-mile transmission line they fear could change the landscape forever.

[00:04:04]>> We've got a difficult task uh to to build critical infrastructure and while minimizing the impact.

[00:04:13]>> Right now, this is farmland and forests, but landowners say if Valley Link's transmission lines come through here, they could clear 200-ft wide corridors on properties just like this one, changing the landscape and livelihoods of families who've owned property for generations.

[00:04:31]>> We moved here for the view.

[00:04:33]As you can see, the view is gorgeous.

[00:04:36]There's going to be towers and power lines right down this empty lot.

[00:04:40]>> It's a view Paul Barcelona thought would last a lifetime. Now, he worries the future his family envisioned could disappear.

[00:04:48]>> It's our life's dream that come could come to an end.

[00:04:51]>> Those fears hit just as hard for Tom Schmutz. His family's cattle and timber farm has stood here since the 1880s.

[00:04:59]>> Possibility of real impact where we might lose the farm.

[00:05:03]>> Schmutz says the project could leave landowners paying the price for benefits they may never see.

[00:05:09]>> At my expense, I get nothing from it.

[00:05:12]>> Valley Link says it wants to hear those concerns before any final decisions are made.

[00:05:18]>> What's your message for customers who maybe they are concerned? What's your message [clears throat] to ease their worries?

[00:05:25]>> Come talk to us. That's it. I mean, I think for customers who have concerns, we want to hear them. We want to talk to you face-to-face.

[00:05:31]>> Valley Link is hosting a community meeting Tuesday from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.

[00:05:36]at the Appomattox Inn and Suites.

[00:05:38]Company officials say they want feedback from anyone who could be impacted.

[00:05:43]>> Hey guys, pausing this video really quickly to remind you to please like this video, share this video, hit that bell notification, and subscribe so you know when we share news about Virginia.

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[00:06:22]>> P news.

[00:06:23]>> All right, so there you go. There is the power line. You see how it's going to come through there.

[00:06:28]Uh 115 mi to power data centers in Northern Virginia. And and to boot, any data centers that happen to just creep up along the route of that power line.

[00:06:41]As we all know, it is it is fueling more data center growth. It's It's kind of like when you build a highway to ease congestion, and then you have more cars that are able to get on the highway and use it and it the highway gets congested again.

[00:06:58]Kind of the same deal.

[00:07:00]If you build it, they will come.

[00:07:07]So, we've been covering that. Let me know what you think about this in the comments. This is This is an ongoing story here. You know, I've done several interviews about all this with some people who are living in Buckingham County, living in Fluvanna living in Fluvanna County.

[00:07:22]I've had and and I'd love to hear from you. Are you affected by all this? Let me know. This is just one of multiple power line projects that that are going up across the state. This may be the biggest in terms of length, 115 mi, but there are other shorter projects that look just like this. They just don't span this length.

[00:07:44]But they're going by neighborhoods and schools.

[00:07:48]And again, they're all powered they they run from substations, power substations to to to connecting with other lines, other substations, running from substation to substation to power data centers along their route.

[00:08:03]And again, I'm not opposed to data centers.

[00:08:06]I don't like data centers and I certainly don't want one in my backyard.

[00:08:11]But right now, based on what the technology is, they're a necessary evil.

[00:08:17]So, build them, but figure out how to build them without taking away from everyone else.

[00:08:24]Driving up utility costs, not just in Virginia, but across the East Coast.

[00:08:28]Utility costs are going up because of the data centers.

[00:08:36]And we're in a drought, one of the worst we've had in many years.

[00:08:40]Wells are starting to run dry in parts of the state. Let me know if you're affected by that, if you have a well.

[00:08:46]I'm actually on a well where I live.

[00:08:48]Thankfully, we're not dry.

[00:08:51]But we are noticing a different difference in the quality of the water coming from our well.

[00:08:57]Let me know because we're competing with data centers for water.

[00:09:07]Again, not opposed to data centers, just want the industry, the world's richest companies, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, QTS, Iron Mountain, Stack Infrastructure, to figure it out and to stop passing all of the costs on to us, the taxpayer, who are taxed enough already.

[00:09:34]Drop your thoughts in the comments on this one. Please like, share, and subscribe, and we will see you on the next video.