By Sophia Clifton

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors again postponed a decision on Dominion Energy’s proposed Golden Substation on Sept. 1, with a narrow 5-4 vote reflecting a growing divide over how much more the company should be required to do to improve the project’s appearance and how much risk the county can take with a facility officials say is important to the regional electric grid.

The board approved the project’s commission permit but voted to forward three special-exception applications to its Dec. 1 business meeting. 

The Golden proposal has already been delayed once. In July, the board voted 7-1-1 to postpone action so Dominion could explore additional architectural and landscaping changes, particularly because of the project’s prominent location along Rt, 28 and the W&OD corridor.

That debate continued through the public comment portion of the Sept. 1 business meeting, with residents divided less over whether electricity infrastructure is needed than over whether Dominion’s current design is good enough.

Thomas Donahue urged supervisors to look beyond the substation itself.

“When you vote on a substation, you need to consider not just where it is and what it looks like, but also what’s going to be connected to it,” he said, arguing that the board should consider the broader impact of the electrical infrastructure associated with the project. 

He warned that approving Golden could effectively endorse the transmission lines that would connect it and said the substation could give the county additional leverage in its broader fight over electrical infrastructure.

Victor Block, the HOA president of Loudoun Valley Estates, challenged supervisors to stick to the standard they have repeatedly articulated for major projects.

“The question tonight, will this board hold Dominion to the standard we have heard from you over and over? Do better, get these projects right,” Block said.

He questioned repeated arguments that certain design changes could not be made because of construction schedules, equipment orders or other constraints.

“Every answer is the same claim. It’s too late to do better,” Block said. “If the only argument left is if time ran out, ask yourself, who managed the clock?”

Block also pointed to the location and scale of the electrical infrastructure, asking how often 500-kilovolt substations are placed so close to residential areas. He ended with a message that became a refrain throughout the public comment: “We expect Dominion to build here like their own families live here, too. Insist we get this right.”

Lauren Lillestolen made a similar request.

“With respect to the Golden Substation, please defer the vote until Dominion commits to building a substation worthy of Loudoun County residents,” she said, arguing that reliability should not be used to justify accepting what she described as “the bare minimum.”

She told supervisors that she had seen substations in other nearby counties with more attractive facades and additional safety features and asked why Loudoun should receive different treatment.

Philip Emanuel focused on the board’s authority over the facility’s design.

“We previously heard that your hands are tied when it comes to transmission line routes,” Emanuel said. “But tonight, on the special exemption for the Golden Substation, your hands are not tied.”

Emanuel argued that the county has direct authority over what is built along Pacific Boulevard and near the W&OD Trail. He described a design involving 115-foot structures and a 20-foot wall as being “right on top of our most used public trail” and said Dominion should not be allowed to use its project timeline as leverage.

“Whatever standard you set tonight will become the baseline for dozens of future applications across Loudoun,” he said. Emanuel ultimately asked supervisors to “defer, do not deny” the application until Dominion could deliver a design that better protected the trail and reflected community expectations.

When the board began its discussion, staff reported that there had been no updates since the previous public hearing. Supervisor Koran Saines (D-Sterling) then moved to approve the commission permit while sending the special exceptions to Dec. 1.

Saines said he remained frustrated by Dominion’s repeated explanations that particular improvements could not be made.

“I still feel that, as you heard some of the comments this evening from residents, that Dominion has said, they can’t do this, can’t do that, when you give them suggestions,” Saines said. “However, they’re still, I feel they still are able to do the right thing and come to the table with a better design than what we are getting.”

Not every supervisor agreed that another delay was justified.

Supervisor Kristen Umstattd (D-Leesburg) asked staff whether postponing the decision until December could jeopardize grid reliability. Staff responded that the county did not have enough information to make that determination, adding that Dominion would likely argue that timing was important, but that staff could not independently evaluate the consequences.

Supervisor Juli Briskman (D-Algonkian) opposed the delay and said she believed the board should deny the application outright. She argued the proposed substation does not fit the county’s 2019 General Plan designation for the area and criticized the proposed screening.

“The little bamboo fences that are proposed to screen this massive, electrical metal monster from the W&OD are wholly inadequate,” Briskman said.

She also questioned Dominion’s timeline arguments, noting that the regional transmission planning work had begun years earlier. “I’m not buying that there’s a time crunch,” she said. She indicated she would oppose the project again if it returned in December.

Supervisor Matthew Letourneau (R-Dulles) took the opposite position, saying Dominion had pursued possible alternatives and that some of the requested changes were constrained by existing rights of way.

“This is a reliability substation,” Letourneau said, arguing that starting over at this stage could create consequences beyond the project itself. He said he had supported the earlier postponement because he wanted a better product, but believed Dominion had since made improvements “to the extent that are physically able.”

“I’m not gonna jeopardize my constituents’ ability to have refrigeration, because I want to send a message,” Letourneau said.

Supervisor Caleb Kershner (R-Catoctin) also opposed further delay. He acknowledged that the design might not be perfect but said a recent power interruption illustrated the importance of maintaining reliability.

“At the end of the day, it is the residents,” Kershner said. “We have to look out for the residents first.”

He ultimately framed the choice as taking “certainty over the perfect.”

Supervisor Michael Turner (D-Ashburn) similarly emphasized the broader grid picture, telling colleagues that the Golden project is one part of a four-substation reliability loop. 

“This grid reliability project of these four substations is absolutely essential for overall grid reliability for every single man, woman and child in Loudoun County,” Turner said. “Golden is part of that.”

Board Chair Phyllis Randall (D-At Large) ultimately sided with the delay. She said meetings with Dominion had produced progress but expressed frustration that the county repeatedly has to push the company for improvements.

“Dominion could have done this already, to be quite honest,” Randall said.

At the same time, Randall warned against treating reliability as a secondary issue, noting that residents with medical needs depend on dependable electricity. She said the public message she had heard was not necessarily “deny,” but “delay,” while giving Dominion another opportunity to improve the design.

The board’s 5-4 vote sent the special exceptions to Dec. 1. Saines closed by stressing that the delay would not immediately stop the project or eliminate its other approval requirements.

“They’re not gonna be moving dirt tomorrow if this is approved,” he said. But he argued that waiting until December would make clear that supervisors expect Dominion to “do better” with its designs.